Beginning Tuesday, 14 teams will battle in Pensacola, Florida to determine the 2023-24 Sun Belt Tournament champion.
Along with the hardware and title of champion, the real prize is the automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA Tournament. In mid-major leagues like the Sun Belt, winning the conference tournament is basically required in order to move to March Madness.
Due to securing the No. 1 seed and a double-bye, App State begins Saturday in the quarterfinals at 12:30 p.m. Their opponent will be the winner of the Georgia Southern-South Alabama matchup.
The Black and Gold matched up twice with the Eagles in the regular season, beating them both times. The last time they matched up, the Mountaineers won an overtime thriller 85-84 after sophomore forward Justin Abson blocked the potential Georgia Southern game-winner.
App State faced the Jaguars in Mobile, Alabama Jan. 4, winning 91-84 in overtime. Junior forward Tre’Von Spillers led with 23 points and nine rebounds. In overtime, the Mountaineers used a 7-0 run at the beginning of the period to blow past South Alabama.
Should the Black and Gold move past the quarterfinals, they’ll likely face Arkansas State, barring an upset. App State downed the Red Wolves 80-57 Friday to earn their first Sun Belt regular season title. Spillers and graduate student forward Donovan Gregory each had 15 points on the Mountaineers’ senior day.
On the other side of the bracket, James Madison and Troy are the favorites to meet the Black and Gold in the championship game.
The Dukes have lost three times this season, with two coming against App State.
In their last matchup Jan. 27, the Mountaineers led for 36 minutes en route to a 82-76 win. Spillers scored 18 points in the second half while Abson tied a program-record with eight blocks. The Dukes’ feature the conference’s leading scorer in forward Terrence Edwards Jr.
Troy is responsible for one of the Black and Gold’s two losses in conference play. In the Jan. 6 contest, the Trojans used a 43-point second half to propel themselves past App State. Troy forced 14 Mountaineer turnovers, resulting in 20 points off turnovers.
For those interested in possible Cinderella stories, Southern Miss and Louisiana would be the best candidates.
The Golden Eagles’ knocked off undefeated No. 19 James Madison 81-71 Jan. 6. They feature three of the top 13 scorers in the Sun Belt in forward Victor Hart, guard Donovan Ivory and guard Austin Crowley, who ranks fifth in the conference at 16 points per game. Additionally, they boast a top five scoring defense in the Sun Belt.
The Ragin’ Cajuns finished the regular season at 18-13 overall and 10-8 in the Sun Belt. They are led by the conference’s second leading scorer Kobe Julien, who averages 17.2 points per game. The Baton Rouge, Louisiana native scored a career-high 30 points earlier this season against Buffalo Nov. 21.
Action for the Sun Belt Tournament starts Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. when Coastal Carolina faces ULM. The game can be streamed on ESPN+.
