In my mind, there are 4 candidates who are the leading contenders for the Sunbelt title. Louisiana-Lafayette , Western Kentucky, Denver, and Middle Tennessee. These are the 4 teams, that should be left standing, to duke it out in the 3rd round.

Louisiana Lafayette features a squad led by Tirus Wade and Mitchell. They have a balanced scoring attack and are tied with Denver for first place in the Sunbelt conference standings. Fairly consistent team.

Denver is led by their center Yemi Nicholson. He has been doing a great job as of late, putting up triple-double type numbers in the past few games. Most recently he put up 30,10, and 4 in a losing effort against Western Kentucky. They are tied for first in the Sunbelt west and the entire conference as well.

Western Kentucky has the best point guard in Antonio Haynes. He has great handles, can run the floor, tear thru defenders, and is a great playmaker. He is Mookie Blaylock mold and plays with finesse. This team has some nice role players to complement his game and he does a nice job of getting them the ball whenever the opporunity arrives.

Middle Tennesee which probably boasts the most fearsome trio...is led by Mike Dean, Michael Cuffee and Steve Thomas. Mike Dean is a nice shooter and is a slashing guard that makes his way to the paint alot. Michael Cuffee is a good penetrator, nice post up game for a wing man, and an excellent shooter with a good field goal pct. Steve Thomas is a transfer from the Georgia Bulldogs who became eligible to play during the semester break. He is the center for the Blue Raiders squad and his great inside ability is a key asset to this team. Thomas has a nice post up game as well. When given the ball at the top of the key, he can take it inside, he can create his own shot, he draws numerous double and triple teams, which opens up opportunities in the half court game, and he is really good at finding the open man on the weakside. He leap rather high, is a decent shotblocking presence, and can clean up the glass on the boards.


Lousiana Lafayette isn't really the type of team to rise to such high levels, but also not to any real low levels as well. They usually stay fairly balanced in the middle and show consistent play as they have shown lately. The other 2 or 3 contenders may be better than they are, but if they happen to faulter, which can likely happen in any case...look for the Rajun Cajuns to be the last team standing.

Denver has done a good job this season vs. the conference opponents, as well as their non-conference opponents. Yemi is the No.1 option on this team and he has to keep involving his teammates in the game if they are to keep pace with the likes of WKU, MTSU, or LL. They have a good chance of getting the bid but the ball is in his hands, as he is the key to this team.

Western Kentucky has a great basketball program and given the right players, they know what do with them in any situation. With Antonio Haynes as the floor general he has to push hard thru all 40 minutes of the game, and play great defense to keep his team in the game. Granted he is not a big scorer, but he can find ways to dominate the game off the ball, in helping with the little things, like setting picks, running the plays, diving for loose balls, rebounding, blocking the passing lanes...etc. He isnt much of a stat stuffer, but he has a big impact in the games. They have a great chance of getting to the Sunbelt final, if they play at the high level they are capable of playing, they lack some talent, but with a great point guard, you can be very successful in this conference.

Middle Tennessee has been doing a very job this season as well. They have obliterated the non-conference opposition and have pulled off some big conference wins. Recently they hit a losing skid, where they suffered losses vs South Alabama, Lafayette and Western Kentucky. When Middle Tennessee started to get really challenged, they tended to get lacksadaisal in the first half..only to find themselves playing catchup in the 2nd half. This was a trend that would drag on for almost 2 weeks as they would just stand around like chumps, passing around the ball, and looking around like they are clueless. This was never more true in the 1st half of the WKU game when they weren't creating any plays like they should have, and were playing hot potato with the basketball. Antonio Haynes blew by their point guards, the defense was atrocious, and they werent involving the other players on the team as WKU went up by almost 20 early in the 2nd half. IT took a huge MTSU rally in the 2nd half to pull within 3, but late crucial fouls helped ice the game for WKU. The Raiders don't have a prolific point guard like Haynes, but when Bryan Smithson lives up to the task, the team thrives, when he is doing his point guard duties like he should be doing. Fats cuyler makes a nice backup reserve for him, as he is nice at orchestrating the fast breaks. The Raiders have won their last 2 games, playing the way they should have been playing. Creating plays, penetrating inside, hitting their shots, playing great perimeter D, and great offensive rotations. Steve Thomas has finally made himself comfortably on this team and they have been getting the ball to him more often down the stretch and has been producing good numbers. Middle Tennessee might make him the go-to guy or give him a partial playmaking role as he can create opportunities himself, similar to a Shaq or Duncan type situation. MTSU still has a ways to go to prove themselves, the horrific shooting game vs. the Cajuns, and the 1st half pounding of WKU need to be accounted for. If they can control the game and avoid the mistakes they made against WKU, they should prevail when they play them again when they see them on the road. Up next for the raiders though, is Denver. The matchup betweem Thomas and Nicholson should be interesting. If Denver loses this game, they could find themselves lost in the shuffle in the sunbelt west race. Yemi has to avoid foul trouble as he will be seeing alot of double teams in this matchup. All in all, MTSU has the best chance of getting the bid in this years tournament. If they can beat Denver and WKu in the upcoming contests, they should be considered the favorites. If they can play up to the level they are capable of playing at, the Raiders should have no trouble against the other contenders. Coming up in the clutch will also be a key.

Prediction: Middle Tennessee over WKU in Sunbelt Final.... If they play hot potato in this game like they did last time, they will lose this game. If they show up for BOTH halves this time and control the game from the outset, the sunbelt crown is all theirs for the taking.

Update: Do my predictions look like they are right on track? Remember UALR and North Texas just got eliminated, so i was right about the top 4 teams since the beginning. It's didn't take looking into a crystal ball.... it was obviously just noticing the things that other people just don't bother to look at or just ignore. You don't want the missing facts and details to end up biting you in the butt.

Good breakdown. I think you nailed it on the last 4 standing. I think a lot will have to do with match-ups. Cajuns have played solid against WKU and MT (in the Cajundome), but struggled against DU. I'm inclined to throw out the 1st loss to DU since the cajuns were without Orien Greene (point guard). Second loss bothered me more. What I have seen is that if the cajuns take care of the ball they play well; but when they turn it over like they did at DU, then they can be beaten by most teams in the conference. Just last night was a good example. Poor job taking care of the ball in the 1st half against USA and go down 10 points a couple minutes before halftime. Then its like the light comes on, after a good ****** chewing by the coach and proceed to go on a 22-3 run. DU provides the toughest matchup with Nicholson inside and the 2-guard hitting 3's. If the cajuns take care of the ball, then I think they can/will take the tournament; but any of these 4 could. Hopefully there will be a couple/few NIT bids out there for the SBC, because the tournament winner will be the only one in the NCAA tournament.

Yea. Had all of the Sunbelt teams beat the top-25 ranked teams in their schedules..the Sunbelt would be getting At-Large consideration by now. Thats how it basically works, getting the attention of the league, and showing the promise of how competitive they can be. There are 31 automatic bids...which leaves 34 At-Large for the best teams without bids. this is all decided on Selection Sunday. MTSU got spanked by Villanova during the non-conference run. Had they won that game, that would have opened the eyes of some in the press. Steve Thomas was just new to the team, they were very unorganized, and all their role players outside of the trio, were shut down. If you can't compete with the best in the country...then you aren't worthy of a good seeding being matched with a high caliber team. Getting into the tournament is nice.. but I would also like to see a Sunbelt team advance a couple rounds, which would be nice. It would help the conference gain some respect next year. The Lady Raiders beat the Lady Tarheels last year in the first round of the NCAA tourney. I'm hoping the mens program can follow suit and pull off an upset if they are put in a low seeding vs. a really hard team.

Know of any other Sun belt teams who have pulled upsets on ranked teams this year?

I think you got 3 of the 4. Don't think MTSU will be there.

I nominate this as post of the year! Excellent work there buddy!

Of course I'm very biased, but I think the Cajuns always rise up when its tourney time. Coach Lee has really performed well in his first year as head coach and really doesn't take kindly to players slacking off in a game. I think this will be key come tourney time when everyone needs to step up on every play. I'll take the Cajuns to win the title. WKU, DU, and 1 of the Arkansas schools in the NIT this year.

The cajuns beat Southern Illinois this year. Rankings mean nothing, but RPI does. So. Ill.'s RPI as of today is 16.

Wow, interesting. If the Cajuns coach is that good, Mtsu sure could use em, as well as any team in this conference. You need a coach that can give you a kick in the butt for all 40 minutes of the game. Yea, I think I remember some team beating the Salukis, and they are one of the top mid-major schools. They dont necessarily have to be ranked, but a team somewhere in the top 64. Alot of people have been doubting the blue raiders as of late, but I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt, because they are yet to play their best basketball. If they can't come thru vs. Denver and WKU, both on the road, then I'm gonna have to cross out this team as a favorite, let alone a contender. Every game is crucial now, and to have double-digit losses is not good news for any school hopeful of a 20-win season. As the next few weeks go by, It will be easier to narrow down the 4 and determine who the odds-on favorite is to take it all.

The best and worst non conference win and loses of each SBC team according to their RPI

UL win v.s. 16 So. ILL lose v.s. 148 Georgia St.
DU 140 CSU Full 248 Colo St.
NT 103 NC Will 153 Chattanooga
UNO 267 Tulane 204 Fairleigh Dickinson
USA 172 Samford 274 So. Miss.
NMSU 81 W. Mich. 247 Tex. Arlington

WKU 114 Tenn St. 170 Evansville
ULAR 16 So. ILL 57 SMS
MT 87 VA. Comm 238 Miss Valley St.
ASU 139 Ole Miss 177 Lamar
FIU 83 Ohio 227 So. Fla.

The tourney is a flat out toss up. Obviously Louisiana Lafayette, Denver are favorites out of the west, but don't forget N. Texas (I know the Toppers won't). They could get hot at home and win the tourney and they are certainly capable of upsetting one of the favorites. Out of the East, Ark Little Rock, WKU and Ark. St. all have realistic shots to win it.

The top two seeds will have huge advantages in each division. Playing three games instead of four gives you one less chance to get upset.

You gotta like Cajun man's passion, but I don't see how anyone could make a serious, objective prediction right now. Too even, too many teams that could pull off an upset.

I like the love for Antonio Haynes, but he isn't the best player on the team. Junior guard Anthony Winchester is the money guy. Just reached the 1000 career point mark tonight with a 36 point performance against UNT. He is the the man!

Got to also mention the freshman of the year in my book, Courtney Lee. He is avg. 15 points a game.

It will be nice to see him play at his home place.

How do my predictions look so far?