Final Week of Sun Belt Games Begin Thursday Night

It's been a long season, especially in the Sun Belt Conference, where the teams play a double round robin of 20 league games.  That stretch comes to an end this Saturday.

Three teams remain in contention for the regular season title and the #1 seed for the Sun Belt Conference Tournament beginning in New Orleans March 12th. Four teams are fighting for the final three spots as only the top eight teams will qualify for the tournament.

Beside what's happening at the CAJUNDOME Thursday night, here's what else is going on around the league.

TEXAS STATE (13-14, 7-11) AT APPALACHIAN STATE (10-17, 7-11)---After a stretch where they lost nine of ten, Texas State righted the ship at home last week with wins over Troy and Arkansas State.  The Bobcats will now finish on the road in their final two games.  Appalachian State, after losing five straight and seven out of eight, rebounded in a big way at home against co-leader UL Monroe, pounding the Warhawks, 66-43.  The Mountaineers can only play the role of spoiler as they are not eligible for the league tournament due to APR issues from the former coaching staff.

UT ARLINGTON (16-12, 10-8) at GEORGIA SOUTHERN (20-7, 13-5)--UT Arlington has clinched a spot in the tournament and is still in contention for a first round bye.  They must win this week and hope Louisiana loses at least once.  Georgia Southern fell to the Ragin' Cajuns on Saturday to fall back into a three way tie for first place.  The Eagles will honor their five seniors before the game but must make sure they aren't looking forward to Saturday's showdown with Georgia State in Atlanta.

GEORGIA STATE (20-9, 13-5) at UL MONROE (19-10, 13-5)--The defending regular season champions control their own destiny as they face their co-leaders in the final weekend of the season.  Georgia State bounced back from a surprising loss at UALR to defeat Troy on the road Saturday and eliminate the Trojans from tournament contention.  ULM has dropped two of three with both of the losses coming on Saturdays when the Warhawks have only had one day between games.  The 'Hawks are down to seven players in their normal rotation and one has to wonder if fatigue has set in.  They get their last two at home, however and still have a shot at what, for them, is an almost necessary double bye.

SOUTH ALABAMA (9-20, 7-11) AT ARKANSAS STATE (11-16, 6-12)---This is pretty much a must win for the Red Wolves, who have beaten UT Arlington and UL Monroe in their last two home games.  Sitting one game behind the other teams fighting for a Sun Belt berth, Arkansas State really has no margin for error.  Anthony Livingston and Francois Dure have both been playing well for A-State and they'll need to keep that going against an up and down South Alabama squad that's capable of scoring a bunch of points.  South Alabama clinches a spot in the tournament with a win.

UALR (13-16, 8-11) at LOUISIANA (17-12, 11-7) will be previewed in a separate story.