Will this be a breakout year for the Sun Belt in Football AND Basketball?
So far the Sun Belt is having probably its best year ever in football. But what about basketball? I've been reading some very positive things come from Coach Arrow at USA. We think we finally have a true point guard, and Coach Arrow says this has a chance to be his best defensive team he's ever had. I know that UNT will be tough with Tony Mitchell, and MTSU and WKU will be good. There are other potentially decent teams in the league. I know we will still have some high RPI teams in our league, but it's been a while since we've had this many potentially good teams in the same year. Will this be a breakout year for the Sun Belt in basketball as well?
RE: Will this be a breakout year for the Sun Belt in Football AND Basketball?
(09-26-2012 10:55 PM)chiefsfan Wrote: Basketball will have some help simply because of the 20 game league schedule, however we have a much longer way to go to earn our respect back.
The 20 game league schedule won't help if the league as a whole sucks. But, like the OP said, this could be a potentially incredible year for the conference. On paper I think we're a two bid league, with the potential for three if the right teams were upset in the conference tournament. MT is going to be very, very good again. We're even deeper than last year and although we lost Dendy, the pieces are there to help make up for the lost production. A UNT, MT, USA, WKU final four in Hot Springs could be fun as hell to watch.
RE: Will this be a breakout year for the Sun Belt in Football AND Basketball?
(09-27-2012 08:43 AM)MTowho Wrote:
(09-26-2012 10:55 PM)chiefsfan Wrote: Basketball will have some help simply because of the 20 game league schedule, however we have a much longer way to go to earn our respect back.
The 20 game league schedule won't help if the league as a whole sucks. But, like the OP said, this could be a potentially incredible year for the conference. On paper I think we're a two bid league, with the potential for three if the right teams were upset in the conference tournament. MT is going to be very, very good again. We're even deeper than last year and although we lost Dendy, the pieces are there to help make up for the lost production. A UNT, MT, USA, WKU final four in Hot Springs could be fun as hell to watch.
Name to remember: Neiko Hunter, who will be taking Dendy's spot in the starting lineup.
RE: Will this be a breakout year for the Sun Belt in Football AND Basketball?
(09-27-2012 10:04 AM)KAjunRaider Wrote:
(09-27-2012 08:43 AM)MTowho Wrote:
(09-26-2012 10:55 PM)chiefsfan Wrote: Basketball will have some help simply because of the 20 game league schedule, however we have a much longer way to go to earn our respect back.
The 20 game league schedule won't help if the league as a whole sucks. But, like the OP said, this could be a potentially incredible year for the conference. On paper I think we're a two bid league, with the potential for three if the right teams were upset in the conference tournament. MT is going to be very, very good again. We're even deeper than last year and although we lost Dendy, the pieces are there to help make up for the lost production. A UNT, MT, USA, WKU final four in Hot Springs could be fun as hell to watch.
Name to remember: Neiko Hunter, who will be taking Dendy's spot in the starting lineup.
It is entirely dependent upon non-conference performance by our league members. I haven't looked at the schedules yet but if the majority of our teams beat the teams they should and a few of our teams knock off some of the mid/lower level Big 6 conference folks, this could be a turnaround year. Then again, if we all beat each other up in conference games and there aren't 2-3 clearly above the rest, it's moot.
RE: Will this be a breakout year for the Sun Belt in Football AND Basketball?
The big games for us are: at Flordia, at UCF, at Akron, UAB, Ole Miss, at Belmont, and Vanderbilt (at Bridgestone Arena)
I'm excited for basketball season to start; our women's team will be even better than last year and our men's team looks like they can have another successful year.
(This post was last modified: 09-27-2012 10:26 AM by tyler90wm.)
RE: Will this be a breakout year for the Sun Belt in Football AND Basketball?
ASU does not play a single major conference team this year, however we play multiple mid majors who were in the NCAA's last year. We'll have a shot to do some damage.
RE: Will this be a breakout year for the Sun Belt in Football AND Basketball?
The Sun Belt should be much improved in basketball this year, but to get any national recognition it is going to take winning OOC games. Multiple teams are going to have to do it and we are going to have to be at or over .500 in OOC games to see any real difference in our RPI as a league. If we can get the RPI up then the multiple bids and better seeds will follow. Last years play-in game was due to WKU having an abysmal regular season, followed by a strong finish that landed them in the NCAA. Typically a Sun Belt champion will get a better seed than 16.
RE: Will this be a breakout year for the Sun Belt in Football AND Basketball?
I know there aren't many that care about women's basketball outside of Murfreesboro, Little Rock and Bowling Green(and the interest there has seriously waned thanks to MTC) but the Lady Raiders have a shot at being the best overall team in any sport for the entire conference. We've been talking about taking that next step for some time now, hopefully this is the year we finally get it done. We have an excellent chance to make some noise in the preseason WNIT, we probably have our best shot we've ever had at knocking off the Lady Vols and with bringing back everyone(with the exception of one bench player) from last year's 26-7 team and the addition of the biggest woman most Sun Belt fans will have ever seen in their life...I don't see us being challenged much at all this year. Would not be surprised at all to see coach Insell to get his 2nd 30 win season.