Intriuging Mid-Major Conference Tournaments: Sun Belt

In the land of the one-bid leagues, conference tournaments are singular culminating moments that make the years of recruiting and months of practicing and games pay off in order to achieve the ultimate dream: a date to the dance.

With conference tournaments starting next week, it's time to highlight conference tournaments that intrigue me the most.

Sun Belt

A clear winner of conference realignment has been the Sun Belt: newbies Southern Miss, Marshall (both from the Conference USA) and James Madison (CAA) are locked into the top-four tournament seeds, which earns a double bye automatically advancing the trio, along with Louisiana, to the quarterfinals.

The top-four teams not only are locked into the quarterfinals, but they are all currently ranked within the top-100 KenPom rankings. 

The conference's top-tier is rich with star talent, led by Marshall all-time great Taevion Kinsey, who is peaking in his extra year of eligibility, averaging 21.9 points, 4.9 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game.

Kinsey's partner in the backcourt, senior Andrew Taylor, is a star in his own right, averaging 20.1 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game.

Originally playing for Ole Miss, Southern Miss transfer Austin Crowley one of the Golden Eagles' three 13+ ppg scorers, averaging 16.3 points.

A five-star recruit out of Prolific Prep, first playing at Nevada and then Arizona, star senior center Jordan Brown has finally found a home at Louisiana, averaging 19.3 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game.

While James Madison might not have a singular star like Marshall, Southern Miss or Louisiana, their depth is uncanny: seven Dukes average between 8 and 13 points per game.

Overall, the Sun Belt has a lot of talent: as of 2/22/23, each of the top-eight teams rank within the top-175 in KenPom (the previous four teams mentioned plus Troy, Old Dominion (another CAA addition), Appalachian State and South Alabama). 

While it's a good bet one of the conference's top-four will earn a March Madness bid, the Sun Belt's overall quality provide plenty of possible parity.