Loading...
Loading...

Sun Belt Conference basketball heads to Pensacola with chaos in the tournament bracket—can any team break through in this ultra-competitive field?
Dave Schultz and Matt Stewart examine the aftermath of a controversial bracket reveal, intense tiebreaker scenarios, and Arkansas State's dramatic seeding slide. The conversation spotlights Troy's season, Scott Cross’s coaching, key absences like Theo Sang, and how complacency and upsets reshaped the title race.
Analysis centers on star players such as Thomas Dowd, Victor Valdes, Wyatt Fricks, and Chaze Harris, whose remarkable rim efficiency leads the nation.
The hosts debate whether tournament format advantages favor top seeds, or if teams like Arkansas State or South Alabama could win a marathon championship run.
With standout coaches, surprise contenders, and unresolved questions looming, this tournament promises upsets, compelling matchups, and storylines fans won’t want to miss.
Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…
🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOSunBelt?sid=YouTube
Locked On College Conferences, HBCU, Basketball & More
🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnCollege
00:00 Sun Belt Tiebreaker Simplification Idea
03:41 Sun Belt's Tournament Strategy Debate
08:51 "ULM: Tough Team, Hard Fight"
10:45 "Sun Belt Basketball Highlights"
13:21 "Seeding Advantage in Playoffs"
16:38 Sun Belt Tournament Highlights
22:03 "Top Teams Likely to Win"
25:10 "Richie Riley Blueprint Explained"
26:18 "Underdog Jaguars Prove Themselves"
Everydayer Club
If you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub
Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!
5-Hour ENERGY
Have your cake & drink it too. Birthday cake-flavor is back, no fork needed. Vanilla-y cakey flavor, caffeinated kick, and no sugar. It's party time. Order Now at https://5-hourENERGY.com or Amazon.
Mazda
Like our players, we’re driven by the details. Because highlights make the reel. What it takes to get there makes it count.
There’s more to a Mazda. Because there’s more to you.
TurboTax
This year you’re getting a major upgrade — Intuit TurboTax now has in-person locations nationwide. Visit http://TurboTax.com/local to book your appointment today.
Robinhood
You’re no longer just a spectator. Play by play. You decide. Trade Every Play with Robinhood.
Now available across the U.S. Download the Robinhood app now to begin.
Futures and cleared swaps trading involves significant risk and is not appropriate for everyone. Event contracts
are offered by Robinhood Derivatives, LLC., a registered futures commission merchant and swap firm.
Indeed
Listeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast
Gametime
Today's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase. Terms and conditions apply.
FanDuel
FanDuel is giving you a way to turn that energy into even bigger potential wins with a College Basketball Parlay Profit Boost. Visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started — Play Your Game.
FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)
#sunbelt #CollegeFootball #NCAA #CollegeBasketball #collegesoftball #Collegebaseball #lockedonsunbelt #NCAASoftball #marshallthunderingherd #appstate #mountaineers #troytrojans #ulmwarhawks #odumonarchs #georgiasouthern #georgiastate #coastalcarolina #jmudukes #chanticleers #louisianaragincajuns #southernmiss #goldeneagles #arkansasstate #redwolves #texasstatebobcats #southalabamajaguars
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Who is going to win the Sunbelt Conference tournament?
Will it be one of the two favorites?
Or will someone make a surprise run?
Talk about it next.
Lockdown Sunbelt.
You are a Lockdown Sunbelt.
Your daily podcast on the Sunbelt Conference.
Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network.
Your team every day.
Previewing the Sunbelt Conference tournament with Matt Stewart.
He's got the call on ESPN plus up until the championship ball game.
And then the guys from ESPN 2 come in because of course.
So of course the first thing we discussed with Matt is the bracket
and how that was revealed and the tie breakers.
And nobody is saying it's easy.
This is not something that was simple, but we do talk it over.
We talk about Troy.
And Marshall their sides of the brackets.
And can anyone make a run?
I still think Arkansas State can make a little bit of a run.
We'll see how many games that would entail.
Let's talk about it next.
The Sunbelt Conference tournament.
Tipping off in Pensacola today.
We do it with Matt Stewart.
He is on the call for ESPN plus.
And he is locked on Sunbelt.
Welcome back to another edition of Lockdown Sunbelt.
Your teams every day.
We are previewing.
The Sunbelt Conference basketball tournament.
Which is starting today.
We have our guy match.
Stewart on.
He'll be calling all the games up until the championship game.
Of course.
You're like the opposite of the Sunbelt bracket.
Right.
You do all the heavy lifting.
I don't get any buys.
I get a buy in the championship game.
Which you don't want to buy.
But I know, but it's all good.
Those bathroom breaks are pretty quick.
Yes, they have to be.
All right.
So let's talk about it.
In the room before we get to the teams.
Okay.
The bracket reveal.
You know, it didn't go up until I think 12.
45 a.m.
A Saturday morning.
And 11.
45 p.m.
Central time.
I'm still not sure they got it right.
There seem to be some confusion.
Everybody was confused on what it was going to be.
Nobody had the bracket.
Although I think Matt present the.
App state radio broad cap.
I'm not sure they got it right.
There seem to be some confusion.
Everybody was confused on what it was going to be.
Nobody had the bracket.
I mean, you know,
I don't know what it was going to be,
you know,
the app state radio broadcaster.
He got it.
Correct.
But not for the reasons he thought.
Just a missed opportunity, Matt,
because you saw it.
The entire college basketball world was focused on the
sunbelt.
And they should have made a spectacle of it.
Instead I feel like they made a spectacle of themselves.
Yeah, I don't know that I would go as far as they made the
spectacle of themselves,
but I mean,
it's a very complicated.
Tiebreaker.
And there's there.
And I don't think there's any way around that when you, you know, when you have six teams
tied for one spot, you know, there's the teams that are going to come out like Marshall
Wow.
They feel, they don't feel, they feel pretty good about it.
They're the two seed, you know, and then Arkansas State talked to Ryan Pinole and their
head coach.
He was obviously frustrated about it.
I mean, you know, I'm not going to tell the sun about how to do their business, but I
think a simpler way would have been once you get, obviously you want to deal with the
head dead.
Right.
If there's any way, and you know, all six teams, the likelihood that all six teams have
played the other five teams is probably pretty remote.
I think a simpler, a simplest, and one of the tie breakers was, and I don't know whether
even, I don't think they ever got to that, what was the net ranking.
So I mean, and the reason, and I'm stealing this from Ryan Pinole and the Arkansas State
Head Coach, and I thought it made a lot of sense.
He says, well, this bracket is put together to protect the best teams in the conference.
Well, what better way to do that than to protect the teams that are ranked higher than
that ranking.
Once you've eliminated the opportunity for head to head, which I no doubt in my mind,
that's always the number one tie breaker head to head that the games are played on the
floor, and that's where, you know, things should be decided.
But I don't disagree with Ryan Pinole in that regard.
Arkansas State in that had it gone directly after you get past the head to head matchups,
and they were no longer applicable.
If it had gone straight to net ranking after that, Arkansas State would have been the
two C instead of the seven C.
So you can see why he supports that theory.
You know, I think there's some validity to what he said there.
I think it would have been, it probably would have been a little bit more simplistic.
You kind of get in the weeds with the tie breaker, but hey, look, every conference that
I know of uses this kind of thing where you go through the, you go through the standings.
Okay.
What's your record against this team?
What's your record against this team?
Every conference in the world does it that way.
So the, so the sun belt's not alone in that regard.
I know the SEC does it that way.
You go, you go down until you get to a place where everybody's played this one team.
Okay.
What's your record?
And it might be the 10th best team in the conference.
So how is that a true judgment of, you know, how good a team is?
I don't know.
It's a sticky and delicate situation.
I think one of the stories we're kind of missing here in all of this is that it exemplifies
how incredibly even across the board, this sun belt conference is.
And if you had a straight up tournament, just a regular old tournament,
I think one through 12, maybe one through 13 might be able to win this tournament.
If it was just a straight up normal, normal tournament like other conferences play.
And this is the whole reason why they don't want that.
They, they want a staggered tournament.
They want a tournament where the top teams at the conference, at the top of the conference
regular season, standings are protected and have the best shot to get to the NCAA tournament.
Problem is, you had 16, you had seven teams in the top two spots of the regular season
state.
Right.
So a few things about that.
Does everybody play each other in the SEC?
No.
Oh, okay.
In the SEC, I do believe so.
I do believe so.
That's the thing.
So everyone plays each other there.
Whereas, no, no.
Yeah, I don't know.
I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't be held to that because I don't know that for sure.
But I mean, you know, in, they, they still basically play a division schedule in the sun
belt teams that are in the teams, in football or playing home and away against those teams.
And you're playing one, from the West, and you're taking one game off.
So I mean, I mean, is what there really be that big of a difference between the 19 and
18 game conference?
You start getting into the schedule a little bit.
And you know, this year they played a conference game before Christmas, which I'm not opposed
to.
I think it's great.
I'd rather see a, I'd rather see a conference game before Christmas than, you know, beating
up on some NAI opponent.
So.
Right.
We're talking with Matt Stewart.
He's got the call.
The sun belt conference tournament in Pensacola coming up while later today.
A couple more things of what you talked about.
We all wanted to get down to a coin flip because that's the last tiebreaker.
That would have really thrilled Ryan Pannon out.
And I wonder if he would have called heads or tails because I'm always a tails guy.
All right.
Also, no offense to Ryan Pannon, but don't commit a foul up by three to give South Alabama
a four point play.
And you would have been in second place.
Yeah.
I mean, that's, you know, I mean, exactly, you're right, but don't be breathing out a guy
up by three.
That's, that's all they want.
Exactly.
So, I mean, yeah.
I mean, and every team in this conference can go back and look at a scenario like that in
their season, a game they should have won and didn't the game they lost and they should
have won.
You know, so I think Arkansas says got two of those against South Alabama, not one, but
two.
Okay.
Let's take a time out.
We'll come back and continue our discussion with Matt Stewart.
We talk about the favorites Troy and Marshall, the number one and two C's will do that
right after I tell you about Robin Hood.
One of sports were traded like markets.
Now you can put your sports IQ to work in real time with Robin Hood prediction markets.
It's not you against the house.
It's you participating in a live market.
You can buy or sell your positions live all game long, use your sports knowledge in
the moments that matter.
Robin Hood prediction markets changes the game.
People moving the action.
So in momentum shifts, you can move with it.
I always knew the game, but never had a dynamic way to apply that knowledge.
Now I can actually take part live in a market powered by people.
You're no longer just a spectator play by play.
You decide trade every play with Robin Hood now available across US download the Robin
Hood app now to begin futures and cleared swaps trading involved significant risk and
is not appropriate for everyone.
That contracts are offered by Robin Hood derivatives LLC a registered futures commission
merchant and swap her.
All right, Dave shows locked on Sunbelt your teams every day.
Let's continue our conversation with the SPM pluses match store is on the call for the
Sunbelt conference tournament.
We talk about the matchups or the favorites in this case Troy and Marshall Troy bounce
back from what was a great start to struggling and Marshall kind of backed into the number
two seed despite losing on Friday night.
Let's continue our conversation with the SPM pluses match to it.
All right, let's talk about the favorites.
It's very odd.
I think Troy, you know, for the first, you know, up until about February or the second
week of February, Troy was by far the best team in the conference.
All right.
They end up being great.
I did a podcast with coach Scott Cros and I talked to him on Saturday.
I said, I was a little reticent to call you back because I thought you might not want
to talk to me.
They were eight and one when we did the podcast, they went four and five the rest in a
way.
Did you suggest that there may be an opening with my circus orange, Scott Cros, that Troy
fans don't want to hear about that.
So although there may be another former Sunbelt coach that may be up for that job from
USF.
Anyway, so so Troy was the best team and then all of a sudden they weren't.
They became incredibly inconsistent.
They had a relatively easy schedule down the stretch.
They won three South Alabama one, too.
That's how that happens.
Marshall lost to home.
South Alabama lost to home has coach Cros at told you when was it Theo saying coming
back because he's been missing for a couple of weeks.
I'm sure that was an issue, but all these guys, I mean, it's hard to tell at this point
because I mean, they're not playing until Sunday.
Oh, that's right.
Right.
I mean, it's not like they need him back tomorrow, right?
They don't need him back till Sunday when they play their next game.
And so that what do you think was the issues with Troy, because saying only was going
here for a couple of weeks, well, I mean, I can only say what Scott told me and that's
what he felt like a little complacency with the team when they got up eight one in the
conference schedule and it looked like they were going to run away with it.
He felt like the team got a little bit complacent.
They got, you know, but I mean, and you said the schedule got easier, but they did have
to play Texas State and they did have to play what James Madison beat him to and I think
that beat him too.
So, yeah, so I mean, yeah, so I don't know how much complacency is in that.
I mean, that's just darn good.
And Texas State, you know, having to play them out there, they only lost one, you know,
home game, the entire season, that was the Southern Miss back in December.
So, I mean, they were the toughest, I mean, just statistically, they were the toughest
home court environment in the entire Sunbelt this year.
Well the easier schedule came at the end, two days ago, you know, Louisiana and South
Island.
And they'll tell me, man, what's that?
And every and Scott also be the first one to tell you, obviously, so because of what transpired,
you know, every coach that I've talked to leading up to the tournament when the subject
and it doesn't always come up, but if the subject organically came up about ULM, every
one of these coaches will tell you this team, despite the fact they were one in 17 in the
Sunbelt Conference, you know, fought tooth and nail, they were a tough out, they were
hard to beat.
They never quit when you would think a team that's, you know, buried in the standings
for overall wins and one in 17 in the conference, they might quit, you know, and they're opening
against Old Dominion tonight.
And that's the team they beat, you know.
And coach Phil Cunningham says, well, you know, maybe, you know, he was, he was playing
at the other side and said, you know, well, maybe Old Dominion might have overtaken
us a little bit for granted and overlooked as he felt like some teams probably did that
at times.
Obviously it would be a natural tendency to do when a team with that kind of record shows
up on your floor.
Well, that was a one point ball game on Saturday and Troy had to survive, Troy went on
a big run in that.
They needed a minor miracle to beat him the first time a couple of weeks ago and, you know,
maybe the best game in the sunbelt was that double overtime victory that South Alabama
was down by like 14 with three minutes left to go.
And at any point in time, ULM could have folded.
And yet South Alabama was able to pull it out right at the end in double overtime.
So that was when I thought was amazing about Friday was, you know, Troy was the first team
in the books with a win.
They got to the club house.
They had the dub.
And I was like, okay, you know, how many teams are going to join him?
There's going to be at least three more teams that pulled into a first place tie and none
of them did.
Well, I saw that I did pick Texas State to beat App State, like you said, home game.
And that was a great game.
It was everything.
60, 57 final.
Yep.
Yeah.
That was a great basketball.
And of course, and not involved in this conversation, but the other, you know, the coastal
and James Madison was a great game.
Johnny Beatle hit a dagger with nine tenths of a second to end James Madison's.
I think what was it?
Five or six game winning streak.
So yeah.
So be interesting to see, you know, coastal, you and I were having this conversation.
I thought the job that Justin Gray did this year, Scott Crosswinds coach of the year.
And it's hard to argue against that with what he's done with that program.
And they won their first ever Sunbelt outright championship.
They don't only shared it in the past.
It's hard to argue against that.
And I'm not arguing against it.
But I thought Justin Gray and maybe he did get a lot of consideration.
I don't know.
But I thought he had a fabulous season.
They went from three and 15 a year ago to 11 and seven this year in the conference.
Yeah.
That's a very, a very good point.
All right.
On the other side of things, Marshall does, I guess back in, as they say, to the second
seed.
They lost.
That was a good game against Georgia Southern until it wasn't when Georgia Southern
just started hitting threes from all over the place.
What is that matchup that, you know, Marshall can handle Georgia Southern?
I think Georgia Southern is averaging a hundred points in two ballgame.
Yeah.
Jordan has had two really big high scoring games against Marshall this year.
Both times going over one hundred points, talked to Corny Jags and after that game.
And, you know, he was really, he was, I'm despondent, it's not the word.
But I mean, he was upset about, he says, I'm glad we don't play until Sunday because
it's going to take me a while to get over this.
I mean, they had the confetti machines.
They had everything.
They were ready to celebrate a championship, you know, the placards were champions and all
that kind of stuff.
And the confetti, they were ready to shoot that into the crowd and then it didn't happen.
So I mean, they really thought they had a shot to win the outright or share the championship,
get a part of that regular season title on Friday night on a nationally televised game
on, you know, ESPNU and they didn't get it done.
So, I mean, I don't know what to say about the old Georgia Southern Marshall matchup other
than it.
Obviously it's a good matchup for the Eagles.
So I mean, and it was a big win for Georgia Southern and coach Charlie Henry because they
avoid having to play on day one.
So I with Matt stories got the call of the Sunbelt tournament from Pensacola.
All right.
So, usually we are both alike that the top two teams are the heavy favorites, all right.
The one caveat is that they don't play a game, as you mentioned, Troy's not playing until
Sunday.
So that is going to take almost nine days without playing the game.
Well, I think if there was anything to be learned from the first year of this four
match, and I don't know, we'll find out whether it was something to be learned from this
first year of the format.
If it holds true here in the second year of the format, but based on the first year of
the format, it certainly appeared that being the three of the four seed was the better
place to be because, you know, you get a game, get a win under your belt.
And now you're facing a team in the semi finals that hasn't played yet that you're clearly,
I mean, I mean, just talent standpoint, you're equal to there's not much difference between
the one, two, three, and four seeds, virtually even teams.
So it's certainly a team that you can beat.
And I think we saw that last year, now, it was that just what happened last year, is
that going to prove to be the case this year?
But I do believe that there is some momentum there for the three and four seed if they win
their game.
Just as I think there's also going to be some momentum there for the six and seven seeds
this year.
When they go up against those, when they go up against the, what would it be?
The five, six, and seven, I guess the seven, the seven would be a step out of it.
So the five and the six, when they face the three and the four in the quarter finals,
because they'll have a game under their belt and it's going to be against a team.
They're now playing a team that's been sitting around all week.
They've been practicing, but not playing different story.
And, you know, and they've got some momentum and the other team does not have momentum.
They've been on that floor, the other team hasn't been on that floor for a game yet.
And, you know, and the teams are virtually even.
I mean, as the records attest, they're all going to be eleven and seven teams facing each
other.
Yeah.
Well, that was, that's the thing, because you mentioned Arkansas State, South Alabama
was also the big loser, right?
They could have been both them and Marshall.
Yeah, they just actually got drilled by something.
They did.
Yes, that was not a particularly defensively, they were okay, because that's typically
what the importance got, but offensively, they were bad, so they missed it a good job defensively.
But that's where it'll be interesting to see, because South Alabama has to play Arkansas
State if those two things, if Arkansas State will done.
And as we mentioned, Arkansas State should have beaten, well, we'll overphrase that.
Well, well, well, well, well, well, that probably should have beaten South Alabama twice,
South Alabama.
Huge comeback in Jonesboro, and then that four point play at home to slide by in overtime.
But that's where Arkansas State, all of a sudden, you know, they play their game, all right?
Then they get South Alabama, and then they're in game number three, and then they get coastal
as the three seed.
I think that's a possibility.
I'm not sure.
Yeah.
I mean, I don't think all games versus one, that's tough.
Getting to the fourth game is tough, and certainly in Arkansas State's case, they got to win
five.
Who in the championship to win the whole thing?
That's going to be extraordinarily difficult, but winning three in a row for these guys, I
don't think for most teams is not that, you know, it's not that big a deal.
I mean, it's a big deal.
I don't want it downplay, but it's not the, it's not the amount of Everest that some people
want to make it out to be getting that fourth win in a row.
It is.
I think we saw that last year.
Remember, it's a little bit of a trivia question, I sprung it on you before we started
the spot cast is what team won the most games in the Sunbelt tournament last year.
It was all the men coming from the back, coming from the back of the tournament.
They won three in a row and they got, you know, they got to until they ran into Troy in
the quarter finals, and they were simply gassed at that point, playing their fourth game
in four days and playing a very good Troy team, and they got beat, got beat rather handily.
It was not much of a game, and at the same time that Troy is handing, you know, is beating
a gas-told dominion team, yet Arkansas State knocking off South Alabama if I'm not mistaken.
Is that right?
I think so.
Yes.
Okay, and so the big change in the format is not that there's no more off day, because that
was even worse, where someone played a game, had an off day, and played somebody who had
been played in a week, but a couple of teams, right, South Alabama ran a gauntlet and lost
to the Cajuns in the championship game.
I think Texas State made a run a couple of years ago.
They did.
They did.
Yeah, yeah.
That format, that format certainly did not benefit the higher seeded teams, because you're
played, but then you got to play it and then you got a day off, right?
Even if you were like, you know, even if you were like an 11 through 14 seed, you played
and you got a day off, you won, and so it's certainly negated any disadvantage you might
have by having to play early in the tournament or having to play a lot of games.
So they got rid of that format.
Just no scientific poll on this whatsoever, but just off the top of my head, most every
one of the coaches, regardless of where they landed in the seeding process, even whether
it was good or bad for their team, seemed to like this format.
Okay.
All right.
Well, because they under it.
So we'll see.
We'll see what goes forward.
You know, what happens is, you know, coaches get fired, coaches retire, coaches change,
and then, you know, the vote changes as you get new new coaches in there.
But right now I would not, I would be surprised if there was any kind of a change, because
most of the coaches that I talked to like the fact that, you know, teams in the regular
season who did well, get rewarded and protected, except for the few who felt like they did
well and did not get rewarded and protected.
Well, what would be a different format other than this?
I mean, most conferences you do have to win at least three ball games to be it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, you know, go to an SEC's type format where you got double buy.
But they've done that.
They've done that turn of life.
Right.
Right.
But SEC doesn't invite everybody, right?
Not everybody makes the SEC turn.
Yeah.
So, you know, it's gotten so big and that's another story from another day that these conferences
have gotten so darn big that, you know, they're too cumbersome, whether it's, I mean,
they're just too cumbersome to look at the standings, whether it's football or basketball
or whatever the case may be.
And I'm not talking specifically about the Sun Belt because there's conferences even
bigger than the Sun Belt.
But those conferences, I don't like that.
But, you know, long time ago, the SEC decided that the divisional play was a bad thing for
them because teams, you know, were getting left out of the NCAA tournament.
Now, they were getting left out of the NCAA tournament because they weren't very good.
But they convinced themselves it was because of divisional play and the conference was so
equally yoked and spread out that teams were going, you know, they were going eight and
six or, you know, nine and seven in divisional play and that looked bad.
And so, you know, we got to get away from divisional play and just go to a big old mosh pit
of a standings.
All right.
We'll wrap up our conversation with ESPN Plus's Matt Stewart.
We'll do that after this.
We talk about predictions as the way we think the tournament is going to go and can anybody
make a right.
We'll do that after I tell you about indeed and fandall.
Workplace chaos, deadline stacking up, inbox overflowing and the one position you have to
fill still sitting open.
And the pressure is on and you need the right hire.
This is a job for sponsor jobs and deep sponsor jobs help you reach the people who actually
fit what you're looking for.
Skills, experience, location, so you're not just hoping the right candidate stumbles across
your posts.
And here's the stat that says it all since I've been talking to you companies like yours
made 27 hires on indeed according to indeed data worldwide.
So, if you're hiring spend less time searching and more time interviewing candidates which
check all your boxes with indeed sponsor jobs spend less time searching and more time
actually interviewing candidates which check all your boxes less stress less time more
results.
When you need the right person to cut through the chaos, this is a job for indeed sponsor
jobs.
And listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsor job credit to help get your job.
The premium status it deserves at indeed.com slash podcast.
Just go to indeed.com slash podcast right now and support our show by saying you heard
about indeed on this podcast indeed.com slash podcast terms and conditions apply need
to hire.
This is a job for indeed sponsor jobs and Fandall college basketball is nonstop big games
tight spreads momentum swings every single night from early tip offs to late night west coast
shootouts.
There's always action on the board.
And now Fandall is giving you a way to turn that energy and even bigger potential wins
with a college basketball parlay profit boost.
You can build any college who parlay want rivalry games rank matchups whatever fits your
like it.
You can mix spreads, totals and player props to match how you see the slate playing
out.
Then you can apply the profit boost and instantly bump up the potential payout.
Go save.
Go bold.
Ride with the team.
You've been following all season.
It's your parlay.
Your style.
Now with more upside behind it at the fandall.com to get started.
That's fandall.com fandall play your game.
Dave shows locked on Sunday your teams every day.
Let's wrap up our conversation with Matt Stewart as we predict more long nights.
I predict who is going to win the conference tournament or or and who may make a run and
surprise some teams.
He has a call on ESPN plus through the semi finals.
He has Matt Stewart and he is locked on Sunday.
Talk to Matt Stewart.
He's got the call of the Sunbelt Conference tournament on ESPN plus through today through
the semi finals and then the big boys come in I guess for the championship game.
It is what it is.
So okay.
So I'm going to go chalk for the most part.
I think I'd be surprised if anybody but Troy wins this ball game.
We'll see if they are complacent and we'll see if that format does not work for them.
I do think Marshall side of the bracket is much more difficult than the other side of
the bracket that could just be me.
Like we mentioned, Texas State and AppState have these really good home court advantages
but they're not at home.
Although AppState was pretty good on the road.
I think they finished eight and eight on the road and that's pretty good.
Which is great.
That's great.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think that, you know, obviously I think Troy has shown that they can be the best team
in this conference.
Am I going to, I don't know the position to say here that right now as the tournament
starts, they're going to be the best team in this tournament they can be.
They're certainly talented enough Scott crosses built himself not just a team but he's built
a program and he's got great players and they do what, you know, they're designed to
do.
But I do think that you got teams, I think any of the teams one through six, maybe, maybe
not one through six because the five and six got to what, they got to win four games,
right?
Right.
I believe probably not.
But I would say one through four.
I would say teams one through four just simply based on the format of this tournament have
a shot to win it.
But outside of that, maybe a five six to win four in a row against this field.
It did.
I mean, happened is recently in a different format in 20, what was a 2021 when AppState
did it.
In 2021, they won four.
The first year that this tournament was held at Almona C who went nuts, Almona went nuts
in the tournament and they were the Cinderella story in one.
And I think Texas State was the overall number one that hearing got bounced and, you know,
so it can't happen.
Can it happen in this format?
I don't know because the thing about this format that's the real kicker is you play game,
you win that game.
Your next opponent is going to be a team that's totally rested while you're a team that's
not totally rested.
And it only keeps getting bigger and bigger with each passing round of the tournament that
you stay in.
You know, so for like an Arkansas State, they win their opening game.
Let's say they win the opening game.
Now they play a South Alabama team.
They can be.
But this is a South Alabama team that's rested and they're not quite in Arkansas State's
not quite rested.
Let's say they win that game.
Now they're going to be playing a three or four seed, yeah, coastal, who's totally
rested.
And now you've got two games under your belt on this floor over the span of the last
48 hours.
And now you've got to be to totally rested 11 and seven coastal Carolina team.
And it just gets more and more difficult as you go through this ladder of the tournament.
Well, it would be interesting to see because you keep on talking about what one team has
to do, which is true, you know, that, you know, South Alabama would have to win four
ball games.
Arkansas State would be five.
That's going to matter if the two top, if one of the top two seeds makes it all the
way.
If they're playing a lower seed, then all of a sudden, it's going to be one more game
advantage.
It may not be two game more advantages.
To me, in all reality, there's really only one seed that's bigger than all those.
I mean, I mean, there's Troy, Troy was 12 and six.
We're talking about Arkansas State being the seventh seed.
We talk about South Alabama being the sixth seed.
They're the same as the two seed, right, record wise and accomplish wise in this.
There's no difference other than they lost a tiebreaker of some sort to not be the two
seed.
And it puts them in a bad spot.
And I can understand I saw I saw it all on social media to their fans were all agitated
and upset about it.
And I get it.
All right, so let's talk about some of the players who could, you know, shine.
You do have the Thomas Douds of the world, the Victor Valdez of Troy Marshall, God White
Fricks.
Right.
I was shocked to see that Chase Harris leads the nation in converting it the rim.
And I'm not sure it's particularly close.
Yeah.
Leave it to the South Alabama to keep on getting those guards who can't shoot threes, but
keep on scoring.
Well, Chase Harris, he's another one of the, you know, one of those, uh, Richie Riley
specials, one of those, you know, one of those guys, Chipotle shoulder kind of guy came
from NAI life college, which is not far from where I live in Atlanta.
And it's been an NAI powerhouse for years now.
And used to really get a lot more attention than it does now in a I and Atlanta's hard to
get attention.
But, um, but yeah, it came from there.
And we've seen that we've seen these guys from Richie Riley before, not great three point
shooters, but great downhill drivers get to the rim and score that way.
And he has done, he has done a better job.
Um, in fact, I was talking to Jay Ladner, uh, Southern Miss, and, you know, he said,
we're, we're, we're trying to take a little bit of a page from the, uh, Richie Riley
Blueprint.
So now it's recognized by everybody, the Richie Riley Blueprint is go find those players
that are gyms, diamonds and the rough, whatever you want to call them for whatever reason
they won't recruit a big out of high school.
Maybe it's because they can't shoot the three like you said, but they've excelled and
at the division two or the NAI level.
And now you're going to be able to give them an opportunity to complete D1 basketball
and prove to the world what is a more, what, you know, what more powerful motivation is
there in sports than us against the world, me against the world.
And he does a really good job of finding those players or really digging into that, digging
into that narrative.
It's me against the world.
It's us, the jaguar.
Man, we're just, you know, we're the, we're the team that nobody wanted coming out of
high school.
And he does a really good job of fostering that.
And, you know, Richie says I was one of those guys.
So he lives in Breeze itself.
And he's, and he's been successful with it.
Well, then you have like a Mark Drone from Texas State, uh, app states, and Drone was
here last year, you know, Drone was a Texas State last year, was where we played 10 games.
And so back fully healthy this year, you've seen what kind of player you can be.
App states got a, you know, the guards, you know, Jennings and, and Dodd, you know, really
good.
And, you know, Arkansas State's got the shooters.
And, you know, we'll see, was it Josh Biel from Coastal Carolina?
We can find a lot of great stories this week, uh, from Pensacol.
Yeah, absolutely.
Go to be fun.
All right, Matt Stewart.
He's got the call of the Sunbelt Conference tournament.
Was it Tuesday through Sunday?
Sunday.
Okay.
All right.
Yeah, it's easy.
It's easy to remember my schedule.
We have the last two games every day.
We have a game starting at six Eastern five central.
And then we have the game after that.
So I shouldn't get lost.
All right.
Very good.
I don't forget my schedule.
It's basically.
We have to wonder what a quick question on a side note.
When is La Tech joining the Sunbelt baseball wise are already playing basically a Sunbelt
schedule?
All right.
I got.
I know.
I don't know.
They're playing South Alabama.
We need to know.
We need that football schedule.
And it's that La Tech coverage.
USA thing.
And clearly, you know, I saw, I saw some social media post about that.
You know, people talking about how the football schedule hasn't come out yet.
And I guess it's because the La Tech question remains unanswered remains up in the air.
So we'll wait and see what happens.
I'm asking you the question.
You don't have the answer.
I don't know.
I don't know the answer to that.
I thought you may have the answer.
No, I don't.
I don't.
I'm sure.
Always appreciate the time.
Have a great call.
We'll all be watching.
Really appreciate your time, but I locked on Sunday.
All right.
Thank you, Matt.
Thanks for having me again.

Locked On Sun Belt - Daily Podcast On Sun Belt Conference Football & Basketball

Locked On Sun Belt - Daily Podcast On Sun Belt Conference Football & Basketball

Locked On Sun Belt - Daily Podcast On Sun Belt Conference Football & Basketball
