2026 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament
| 2026 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Division I |
| Season | 2025–26 |
| Teams | 14 |
| Site | Pensacola Bay Center Pensacola, Florida |
| Champions | Troy (3rd title) |
| Winning coach | Scott Cross (2nd title) |
| MVP | Thomas Dowd (Troy) |
| Television | ESPN2, ESPN+ |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Troy † | 12 | – | 6 | .667 | 22 | – | 12 | .647 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Marshall | 11 | – | 7 | .611 | 19 | – | 13 | .594 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coastal Carolina | 11 | – | 7 | .611 | 19 | – | 13 | .594 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appalachian State | 11 | – | 7 | .611 | 19 | – | 13 | .594 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas State | 11 | – | 7 | .611 | 19 | – | 13 | .594 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| South Alabama | 11 | – | 7 | .611 | 21 | – | 12 | .636 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arkansas State | 11 | – | 7 | .611 | 20 | – | 12 | .625 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Southern Miss | 9 | – | 9 | .500 | 19 | – | 16 | .543 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| James Madison | 9 | – | 9 | .500 | 18 | – | 15 | .545 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Georgia Southern | 8 | – | 10 | .444 | 21 | – | 16 | .568 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Old Dominion | 7 | – | 11 | .389 | 12 | – | 21 | .364 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Louisiana | 7 | – | 11 | .389 | 11 | – | 22 | .333 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Georgia State | 7 | – | 11 | .389 | 10 | – | 22 | .313 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Louisiana–Monroe | 1 | – | 17 | .056 | 4 | – | 28 | .125 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2026 Sun Belt tournament winner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2026 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for Sun Belt Conference during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. All tournament games were played at Pensacola Bay Center between March 3–9, 2026.[1][2] The winner, Troy, received the conference's automatic bid to the 2026 NCAA tournament.
Seeds
All fourteen conference teams will qualify for the tournament. Teams will be seeded by record within the conference, with a tiebreaker system to seed teams with identical conference records. The tournament will use a unique stepladder system giving the top two teams byes to the tournament semifinals and the No. 3 and No. 4 teams byes to the tournament quarterfinals. The top ten teams will receive at least one bye.[3]
| Seed | School | Conference record |
Tiebreaker 1 |
Tiebreaker 2 |
Tiebreaker 3 |
Tiebreaker 4 |
Tiebreaker 5 |
Tiebreaker 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Troy | 12–6 | ||||||
| 2 | Marshall | 11–7 | 3–0 vs. USM/JMU | |||||
| 3 | Coastal Carolina | 11–7 | 2–1 vs. USM/JMU | 2–0 vs. MRSH | 1–0 vs. TXST | |||
| 4 | Appalachian State | 11–7 | 2–1 vs. USM/JMU | 0–2 vs. MRSH | 1–0 vs. Troy | |||
| 5 | Texas State | 11–7 | 1–2 vs. USM/JMU | 1–0 vs. MRSH | 0–1 vs. CCU | 1–1 vs. Troy | 1–0 vs. MRSH | |
| 6 | South Alabama | 11–7 | 2–1 vs. USM/JMU | 0–1 vs. MRSH | 1–1 vs. Troy | 0–1 vs. MRSH | 2–0 vs. ARST | |
| 7 | Arkansas State | 11–7 | 2–1 vs. USM/JMU | 0–1 vs. MRSH | 1–1 vs. Troy | 0–1 vs. MRSH | 0–2 vs. USA | |
| 8 | Southern Miss | 9–9 | 1–0 vs. JMU | |||||
| 9 | James Madison | 9–9 | 0–1 vs. USM | |||||
| 10 | Georgia Southern | 8–10 | ||||||
| 11 | Old Dominion | 7–11 | 3–0 vs. UL/GAST | |||||
| 12 | Louisiana | 7–11 | 1–1 vs. ODU/GAST | 1–0 vs. GAST | ||||
| 13 | Georgia State | 7–11 | 0–3 vs. ODU/UL | 0–1 vs. UL | ||||
| 14 | Louisiana–Monroe | 1–17 |
Schedule
| Game | Time | Matchup | Score | Attendance | Television |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First round – Tuesday, March 3 | |||||
| 1 | 5:00 p.m. | No. 12 Louisiana vs. No. 13 Georgia State | 84–75 | 629 | ESPN+ |
| 2 | 7:30 p.m. | No. 11 Old Dominion vs. No. 14 Louisiana–Monroe | 87–80 | 719 | |
| Second round – Wednesday, March 4 | |||||
| 3 | 5:00 p.m. | No. 9 James Madison vs. No. 12 Louisiana | 87–72 | 824 | ESPN+ |
| 4 | 7:30 p.m. | No. 10 Georgia Southern vs. No. 11 Old Dominion | 88–84 | 931 | |
| Third round – Thursday, March 5 | |||||
| 5 | 5:00 p.m. | No. 8 Southern Miss vs. No. 9 James Madison | 86–80 | 1,081 | ESPN+ |
| 6 | 7:30 p.m. | No. 7 Arkansas State vs. No. 10 Georgia Southern | 77–80 | 1,374 | |
| Fourth round – Friday, March 6 | |||||
| 7 | 5:00 p.m. | No. 5 Texas State vs. No. 8 Southern Miss | 77–81 | 1,248 | ESPN+ |
| 8 | 7:30 p.m. | No. 6 South Alabama vs. No. 10 Georgia Southern | 85–94 | 1,867 | |
| Quarterfinals – Saturday, March 7 | |||||
| 9 | 5:30 p.m. | No. 4 Appalachian State vs. No. 8 Southern Miss | 73–86 | 1,534 | ESPN+ |
| 10 | 8:00 p.m. | No. 3 Coastal Carolina vs. No. 10 Georgia Southern | 72–96 | 1,685 | |
| Semifinals – Sunday, March 8 | |||||
| 11 | 5:00 p.m. | No. 1 Troy vs. No. 8 Southern Miss | 78–70 | 1,850 | ESPN+ |
| 12 | 8:00 p.m. | No. 2 Marshall vs. No. 10 Georgia Southern | 78–82 | 2,103 | |
| Final – Monday, March 9 | |||||
| 13 | 6:00 p.m. | No. 1 Troy vs. No. 10 Georgia Southern | 77–61 | 2,555 | ESPN2 |
| Game times in CT; ranking denotes tournament seed | |||||
Bracket
| First round Tuesday, March 3 ESPN+ | Second round Wednesday, March 4 ESPN+ | Third round Thursday, March 5 ESPN+ | Fourth round Friday, March 6 ESPN+ | Quarterfinals Saturday, March 7 ESPN+ | Semifinals Sunday, March 8 ESPN+ | Final Monday, March 9 ESPN2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Troy | 78 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Appalachian State | 73 | 8 | Southern Miss | 70 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Texas State | 77 | 8 | Southern Miss | 86 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Southern Miss | 86 | 8 | Southern Miss | 81 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9 | James Madison | 87 | 9 | James Madison | 80 | 1 | Troy | 77 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 12 | Louisiana | 84 | 12 | Louisiana | 72 | 10 | Georgia Southern | 61 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 13 | Georgia State | 75 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Marshall | 78 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Coastal Carolina | 72 | 10 | Georgia Southern | 82 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | South Alabama | 85 | 10 | Georgia Southern | 96 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Arkansas State | 77 | 10 | Georgia Southern | 94 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 10 | Georgia Southern | 88 | 10 | Georgia Southern | 80 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 11 | Old Dominion | 87 | 11 | Old Dominion | 84 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 14 | Louisiana–Monroe | 80 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Awards and honors
Tournament MVP: Thomas Dowd, Troy
- SBC All-Tournament Team
-
- Thomas Dowd, Troy
- Jerrell Bellamy, Troy
- Alden Applewhite, Georgia Southern
- Tyren Moore, Georgia Southern
- Spudd Webb, Georgia Southern
- Tylik Weeks, Southern Miss
See also
References
- ^ "2026 Sun Belt Men's Basketball Championship". sunbeltsports.org. Retrieved January 31, 2026.
- ^ "Sun Belt Conference - Get the details". Visit Pensacola. Retrieved January 31, 2026.
- ^ "Sun Belt Announces Changes to Basketball Championships Brackets". sunbeltsports.org. October 31, 2024. Retrieved February 2, 2025.