Support for the 2021 Sun Belt Conference Tournament.
- The Sun Belt Conference Tournament starts Friday, March 5 in Pensacola and ends with the title game on Monday, March 8 in the Florida Panhandle
- Texas State was the league champion in the regular season, but the State of Georgia enters the tournament as the favorite
- See the seeds, key and full view of the tournament, below
Editor’s note: No online sportsbook has released pre-tournament odds for the Horizon League Conference Tournament. See the SDB college basketball odds page for individual game odds.
The Sun Belt Conference has been one of the most competitive leagues in college basketball this season, ranking the last in the country in percentage of blowout. This means that the tournament in the middle of the big conference must be a dandy. The opening round starts on Friday, March 5, with the championship game scheduled for Monday, March 8. All games will be played at Pensacola, Pensacola Bay Center or Pensacola State College.
As usual, no Sun Belt program will host the NCAA Tournament as a whole. This means that winning the conference tournament is your only chance to advance to March Madness.
Texas State has won seven consecutive wins and won the program’s first regular season conference crown since 1999 when it was a member of Southland. Meanwhile, the state of Georgia has won six in a row and has an out-of-conference victory and four overtime over the NCAA Georgia Tech tournament bubble team.
2021 Sun Belt tournament odds
| Team (seed) | Chances |
|---|---|
| State of Georgia (E1) | TBD |
| Coastal Carolina (E2) | TBD |
| Texas State (W1) | TBD |
| Louisiana (W2) | TBD |
| South Alabama (E3) | TBD |
| UT-Arlington (W3) | TBD |
| Little Rock (W5) | TBD |
| Appalachian State (E4) | TBD |
| Arkansas State (W4) | TBD |
| South Georgia (E5) | TBD |
| UL-Monroe (W6) | TBD |
| Troy (E6) | TBD |
Lurking Panthers
The state of Georgia may have finished 2.5 games behind the state of Texas in the final ranking of the regular season. But the Panthers are the Solar Belt team with the highest ranking for 32 slots (No. 145 compared to Coastal Carolina at No. 177) and won the 123-120 season opener victory in four overtime over the Ramblin ‘Wreck.
Rob Lanier’s squad has four veterans in Corey Allen, Justin Roberts, Kane Williams and Eliel Nsoseme, averaging between 14.9 and 11.7 points per game. Allen leads by shooting 46.4 percent of the field, while Nsoseme is a low force, averaging 9.9 rebounds per game to go along with his nearly 12 points per game clip.
Two impressive senior students also contribute. Jalen Thomas averages double-digit points per game, while Evan Johnson lost 28 in 26 minutes in a 84-81 victory over southern Alabama this weekend that saw him make 6 of 9 beyond the hoop.
The Panthers played the last two NCAA tournaments and three of the last five. The show even dropped Baylor as the No. 14 seed in Big Dance 2015. Lanier knows how to prepare his team in March and is the favorite he deserves.
2021 NCAA Men’s Tournament Championship Odds Tracker
Beware of Bobcats
Winning the league’s regular season title is an achievement in itself. So, he is recovering from an embarrassing loss to the Nossa Senhora do Lago program of NAIA 61-58 December 12. Terrence Johnson’s squad could easily have thrown in the towel at that point.
Nossa Senhora do Lago brings down the NCAA D1 state of Texas !!! Let’s go!!! https://t.co/C5ukjTEBzJ
– NAIA Hoops Report (@NAIAHoopsReport) December 13, 2020
All the Bobcats have done is 15-3 since then, all with interim Johnson leading the way. The head coach took the reins of a program chosen to finish fifth in pre-season media research, just before the start of the 2020-21 campaign, after longtime coach Danny Kaspar came under investigation.
Junior guards Mason Harrell and Caleb Asberry have been the field leaders, each averaging more than 13 points per game. The big Isiah Small has no jaw-dropping statistics (10.8 points and 5.7 rebounds per game), but the 2-meter-tall senior from Jersey City is in the top 50 in percentage of effective shots, percentage of shots true and three percentage points across college basketball.
This group may not present an impressive victory over a power conference team like the state of Georgia (the Bobcats lost to the state of Mississippi and Texas), but Johnson’s group has been hot and talented.
It’s not just a football school
The Chanticleer football program was ranked 9th last season, before ending with a record 11-1, finishing 14th in the final vote. But the small school in Conway, South Carolina, also has a very good basketball program. Junior guard Devante Jones is a big reason.
Jones became one of the best big welterweights in the country, averaging 20.2 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. This ranks him in the Top 100 nationally in four KenPom categories, fighting face to face with Michael Flowers, from southern Alabama, for the Player of the Year.
Meanwhile, Deanthony Tipler, transferred from JUCO, averages an impressive 15.1 points per game. And down there, the Chants have Essam Mostafa, a 1.80m freshman center, which adds up to 11.4 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. Players give coach Cliff Ellis a talented trio and legitimate candidates for the player, rookie and rookie of the year at the conference.
Times like Louisiana (which lost to Baylor 112-82 on November 28, scoring most of the points the Bears have allowed an opponent this season), South Alabama (with the aforementioned Flowers – who can take control of the games) and Arkansas State (with first-year star Norchad Omier, who registered 13 doubles this season), everyone has a chance to do a Cinderella race. But I’m going with the state of Georgia to cut the nets and dance with the big boys in Indy.
The choice: state of Georgia
Blair Johnson
Sports writer
Blair Johnson is a veteran journalist and seasoned sports content creator. He writes and produces content for as long as he can remember, with names known as CNN, NFL Media and Yahoo. Blair currently lives and works in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.