Sun Belt Tournament Picks, Odds & Schedule 2023
- The Sun Belt Conference Tournament will be held from Tuesday (Feb. 28) to Monday (Mar. 6) in Pensacola, Florida
- Southern Miss is the top seed but Marshall is favored
- A look at the Sun Belt Conference odds with analysis and a pick can be found below
Southern Miss is the top seed in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, which begins Tuesday night (Feb. 28) and runs through next Monday, March 6, at the Pensacola Bay Center in Pensacola, Florida.
All 14 of the Sun Belt’s teams are in the field. Georgia State is the defending champion but finished in last place during the regular season in 2022-23.
Southern Miss won the regular-season title with a 14-4 record. The Golden Eagles finished one game ahead of Marshall and Louisiana.
Sun Belt Conference Tournament Odds
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
| #3 Marshall (24-7) | +220 |
| #4 James Madison (21-10) | +350 |
| #2 Louisiana (23-7) | +350 |
| #1 Southern Miss (25-6) | +400 |
| #8 South Alabama (16-15) | +1000 |
| #5 Troy (19-12) | +1200 |
| #6 Old Dominion (19-11) | +2200 |
| #9 App State (16-15) | +5000 |
| #7 Georgia Southern (16-15) | +5000 |
| #10 ULM (11-20) | +10000 |
| #12 Coastal Carolina (11-19) | +10000 |
| #13 Arkansas State (12-19) | +10000 |
| #11 Texas State (13-18) | +10000 |
| #14 Georgia State (10-20) | +10000 |
Marshall is favored at +220 despite being the #3 seed, giving it an implied win probability of 31.25%, and is in the projected March Madness bracket. Top-seeded Southern Miss is listed at +400 with an IWP of 20%.
Odds as of February 27th at BetMGM.
Sun Belt Tournament Schedule
There are two first-round games on Tuesday with Coastal Carolina playing Arkansas State at 5 p.m. ET and Texas State facing Georgia State at 7:30.
The second-round matchups on Thursday include South Alabama vs App State, Troy vs Coastal Carolina-Arkansas State winner, Old Dominion vs Texas State-Georgia State winner and Georgia Southern vs ULM.
Southern Miss, Louisiana, Marshall and James Madison have byes into the quarterfinals on Saturday. The semifinals are set for Sunday and the championship game is at 6 p.m. next Monday and will be televised by ESPN2.
Marshall Sun Belt Tournament Favorite
Marshall (24-7) has the top two scorers in the Sun Belt in senior guards Taveion Kinsey (22.2) and Andrew Taylor (20.2).
Taveion Kinsey and Andrew Taylor Tonight in Marshall’s Big win:
•50 points
•11 assists
•11 rebounds
•3 stealsThis backcourt is box office and so underrated. A huge game in the Sun Belt (2nd vs 3rd place) they get the W. Hope we get to see them on the big stage💪🏻🍿 pic.twitter.com/OXWxlQfu1N
— Liam Giffin (@liamgiffin767) February 23, 2023
Kinsey (5.4) and Taylor (4.8) also rank 2-3 in assists. Kinsey’s 54.5 field goal percentage is second in the conference and Taylor stands second in steals with an average of 2.1 a game.
Freshman center Micah Handlogten is a force in the middle for the Thundering Herd. He is averaging a Sun Belt-best 9.9 rebounds along with 7.7 points and 2.3 blocked shots.
Junior guard Kamdyn Curfman (11.1) also has a double-digit scoring average for Marshall, which ended the regular season with a 71-67 to Old Dominion on the road. The Thunder Herd had won their previous five games.
Other Sun Belt Tournament Contenders
James Madison and Louisiana are the second choices at +350. Southern Miss is next at +400.
James Madison has won four of its last five games, including routing visiting Georgia State 90-69 on Saturday. The Dukes have four players scoring in double figures with sophomore wing Terrence Edwards (12.8) and senior guard Vado Morse (12.3) leading the way.
Louisiana junior forward Jordan Brown (19.8) is the Sun Belt’s third-leading scorer, and his 57.5 field goal percentage is top of the conference. Sophomore guard Themus Fulks is pulling down a Sun Belt-best 6.1 rebounds a game despite standing 6-foot-1 and has a 9.3 scoring average.
The Rajun’ Cajuns beat South Alabama 74-64 at home to finish the regular season with three wins in their last four games.
𝙁𝙄𝙍𝙎𝙏 𝙏𝙀𝘼𝙈 𝘼𝙇𝙇-@SunBelt
1⃣9⃣.6⃣ points per game
8⃣.3⃣ rebounds per game
8⃣ double-doublesThe list of accolades for Jordan Brown could go on-and-on.#GeauxCajuns pic.twitter.com/68YS0KG4V8
— Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns® Men's Basketball (@RaginCajunsMBB) February 27, 2023
Though it finished first in the conference, Southern Miss split its last four games. The Golden Eagles beat Texas State 79-69 on the road Saturday.
Junior guard Austin Crowley is Southern Miss’ top player. He is fourth in the Sun Belt in steals (2.0) and fifth in both scoring (16.2) and field goal percentage (47.2).
Sun Belt Tournament Sleeper
South Alabama won five games in a row and eight of its last nine before losing at Louisiana. Before going on their hot streak, the Jaguars were just 8-13.
South Alabama has one of the top players in the Sun Belt in senior guard Isiah Moore. He is all over the conference leaderboard, standing third in field goal percentage (53.3), fourth in scoring (18.5) and fifth in assists (4.5). Moore has scored at least 20 points in six of his last 10 games.
Sun Belt Conference Tournament Prediction
Don’t be fooled by South Alabama being just one game above .500. The Jaguars are as hot as any team in the Sun Belt and Moore has been on fire down the stretch.
Let’s go with a bit of a longshot.
Pick: South Alabama (+1000)
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John Perrotto has been covering and writing about sports for various outlets for over 40 years. His work has appeared in the likes of USA TODAY, ESPN.com, SI.com, Forbes.com, The Associated Press, Baseball Digest, and more. John is based out of Beaver Falls, PA.
