Sun Belt Conference 2008-09 Preview
by Phil Kasiecki

The Sun Belt made some traction last season by getting two teams in the NCAA Tournament. Additionally, Western Kentucky got a lot of attention with its buzzer-beating first round win. The conference has had its share of good teams over the years, and the Hilltoppers have [...]

Sun Belt Conference Notebook
by Ryan Glenn

Middle Tennessee State is off to one of the best starts in the conference. The Blue Raiders are 6-3 and have an RPI of 41. Although 6-3 is not the best record in the league, it must be noted that two of the Blue Raiders’ losses came from [...]

Sun Belt Conference 2005-06 Preview
by Ryan Glenn

The Sun Belt conference is improving every year. The addition of Troy to the conference from the Atlantic Sun will pay off down the road. Louisiana-Lafayette is looking for their third straight NCAA tournament appearance and a conference championship. Also in the West, Denver will [...]

Sun Belt Conference Championship Recap
by Ryan Glenn

No. 2W Louisiana-Lafayette 88, No. 1W Denver 69

Louisiana-Lafayette earned their second straight trip to the NCAA tournament last night. The Ragin’ Cajuns finished with a strong second half as they were able to take down Denver 88-69. Denver beat Louisiana-Lafayette two times during the regular season, [...]

Sun Belt Conference Tournament Recaps
by Ryan Glenn

First Round

No. 4E Arkansas State 84, No. 5W North Texas 76

Arkansas State, led by J.J. Montgomery with 25 points, was able to win pretty easily against North Texas. Arkansas State was just on fire from behind the arc, hitting ten three-pointers in the game. North Texas [...]

Sun Belt Conference Season Preview
by Zach Van Hart

The entire Sun Belt Conference rejoiced during the 2003-04 season as Western Kentucky, who had dominated during the first few seasons of the millennium, finally returned back to earth. With the fall of the Hilltoppers to a fifth-place finish and quarterfinal loss in the conference tournament (on [...]

Sun Belt Conference 2003-04 Season Recap
by Zach Van Hart

If any coach had to guess which team would start off the season 0-5, none would have answered defending champion Western Kentucky. What the coaches did guess was that New Orleans would finish last in its division. By mid-December, the Hilltoppers had gone 0-5. And by [...]

Sun Belt Conference Quarterfinals Preview

Preview by Zach Van Hart

(1) Louisiana Lafayette vs. (8) South Alabama
The No. 1-No. 8 matchup will start off the 2004 Sun Belt Tournament, as regular season champions Louisiana Lafayette will play South Alabama Saturday at 6:30 p.m. The two squads split their games this season, as both teams [...]

Sun Belt Quarterfinals Recap

Recap by Zach Van Hart

No. 1 Louisiana Lafayette 84, No. 8 South Alabama 58
The Ragin’ Cajuns looked every bit of the top seed in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Tournament, whipping the Jaguars 84-58. While they are known for their offensive production, Louisiana Lafayette’s defense was the catalyst [...]

Sun Belt Conference Quarterfinals Preview

Preview by Zach Van Hart

No. 4 Western Kentucky versus No. 5 Middle Tennessee State
Like Saturday’s matchups, the Hilltoppers and Blue Raiders split their home-and-home games this season. While Western Kentucky’s late season run was well documented as they it won seven of their final nine games; Middle Tennessee [...]

Sun Belt Quarterfinals Recap

Recap by Zach Van Hart

No. 5 Middle Tennessee State 76, No. 4 Western Kentucky 62
OK, anyone who thought the Blue Raiders would walk into E.A. Diddle Arena, home court for the Hilltoppers, with their leading scorer out with a broken hand suffered three days prior in practice and walk [...]

Sun Belt Conference Semifinals Preview

Preview by Zach Van Hart

No. 1 Louisiana Lafayette verses No. 5 Middle Tennessee State
The Blue Raiders will have to hurry up and catch their breath after Sunday’s upset over Western Kentucky as they prepare for top seed Louisiana Lafayette. The Ragin’ Cajuns have the benefit of an [...]

Sun Belt Semifinals Recap

Recap by Zach Van Hart

No. 1 Louisiana Lafayette 70, No. 5 Middle Tennessee State 66
It’s becoming a trend that teams are winning after grabbing a big lead, letting their opponents come almost all the way back, but never relinquishing the lead and holding on for the win. This happened [...]

Sun Belt Conference Finals Preview

Preview by Zach Van Hart

No. 1 Louisiana Lafayette versus No. 3 New Orleans
Not since Ervin Johnson, (not Magic, the other one) has New Orleans been so excited about their Privateers. But before UNO goes dancing for the first time in eight seasons, they have a little road block in [...]

Sun Belt Finals Recap

Recap by Zach Van Hart

No. 1 Louisiana Lafayette 67, No. 3 New Orleans 58
Plenty of moments told the story of the Ragin’ Cajuns win Tuesday night. When Brandon Boyd hit a transition three-pointer at the seven-minute mark, giving Louisiana Lafayette its biggest lead of the game at the time, eleven. [...]

Sun Belt Conference Notebook
by Zach Van Hart

Coming on strong

They started out the conference season hot. Now they have finished it hot too. South Alabama, which lost eight straight Sun Belt games during the middle of the season, won its last three conference games to sneak into the conference tournament as the eighth [...]

Sun Belt Conference Notebook
by Zach Van Hart

Bench performers

Starting is overrated, according to several bench performers throughout the Sun Belt Conference. During the past seven days alone, four players came up huge for their respective teams.

Starting with the conference’s frontrunner Louisiana Lafayette, the Cajuns discovered another reliable scoring threat in [...]

Sun Belt Conference Notebook
by Zach Van Hart

Despite stars, Indians failing

When a team sports the conference’s top two scorers and top rebounder, it should also be at the top of the conference’s standings, right? Apparently this is not the case in the Sun Belt, as the Arkansas State Indians have [...]

Sun Belt Conference Notebook
by Zach Van Hart

Slow start

From the untrained eye, it would appear that Western Kentucky’s 0-5 start is cause for concern. It may be, but the fact their early-season schedule is brutal may have something to do with it.

The Hilltoppers most recent loss came in overtime to the undefeated [...]

Sun Belt Conference Notebook
by Michael Protos

The Sun Belt Conference is back for another season of intrigue. The Sun Belt Conference qualifies as a solid mid-major conference. It has several programs that every major conference team should respect, lest they be upset on the road or at home. Louisiana – Lafayette, Western Kentucky and New [...]

Sun Belt Conference 2002-03 Season Recap
by Andria Wenzel

The Sun Belt Conference was once again championed by Western Kentucky. Who would have thought that without the towering presence of Chris Marcus, the Hilltoppers would still manage to find their way in to the NCAA tourney. WKU’s success has sent head coach Dennis Felton to [...]

Sun Belt Notebook
by Andria Wenzel

The Sun Belt Conference wrapped things up on Wednesday when the top seeds of the East Division and West Division battled it out in what could be a preview of the tournament championship on Tuesday. No. 1 Western Kentucky (21-8, 12-2) in the East edged No. 1 Louisiana-Lafayette (20-8, [...]

Sun Belt Notebook
by Andria Wenzel

Road Trip Proves Profitable

Alone at the top of the heap is where the University of Denver Pioneers sit. They are not flashy or record breakers – they don’t sell out their arena every night. But after going on the road to [...]

Sun Belt Notebook
by Andria Wenzel

It’s all a numbers game

Four years ago Chris Davis decided that the University of North Texas would be the best place for him to pursue a collegiate basketball career. So far one could say things have gone well for the Dallas native. In his four-year residence with the [...]

Sun Belt Notebook
by Andria Wenzel

New Mexico State needs Moore

Since the return of James Moore from academic suspension on Dec. 15, the New Mexico State Aggies have been unbearable as well as unbeatable for most opponents. The Aggies have gone 3-1 since Moore’s return, [...]

Sun Belt Notebook
by Andria Wenzel

Arkansas-Little Rock Comes Close

For the first time in the entire evening the University of Arkansas-Little Rock could not take advantage of No. 25 Minnesota’s mistakes. In overtime the Gophers missed four straight free throws, but the Trojans (4-3) could not stumble on the [...]

Sun Belt Notebook
by Andria Wenzel

You’ve got to wonder what they’ve been feeding the basketball players in Venezuela, because in his first five games of the season for the University of New Orleans, senior forward Hector Romero has led his team to a 5-0 record, and more astonishingly, Romero has yet to score under 20 [...]

Sun Belt Championship Preview

Hilltoppers, Hilltoppers, Hilltoppers. Western Kentucky has already locked up the number one seed in the SBC East Division. WKU is on a 15-game winning streak and has climbed back into the Top 25 after spending the first few weeks of the season in the polls before falling out during [...]