2025–26 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball season

2025–26 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportBasketball
DurationNovember 3, 2025 – February 27, 2026
Teams14
TV partnerESPN
2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
Regular season championsTroy
Season MVPChaze Harris, South Alabama
Tournament
ChampionsTroy
  Runners-upGeorgia Southern
Finals MVPThomas Dowd, Troy
2025–26 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Troy † 12 – 6   .667 22 – 12   .647
Marshall 11 – 7   .611 19 – 13   .594
Coastal Carolina 11 – 7   .611 19 – 13   .594
Appalachian State 11 – 7   .611 19 – 13   .594
Texas State 11 – 7   .611 19 – 13   .594
South Alabama 11 – 7   .611 21 – 12   .636
Arkansas State 11 – 7   .611 20 – 12   .625
Southern Miss 9 – 9   .500 19 – 16   .543
James Madison 9 – 9   .500 18 – 15   .545
Georgia Southern 8 – 10   .444 21 – 16   .568
Old Dominion 7 – 11   .389 12 – 21   .364
Louisiana 7 – 11   .389 11 – 22   .333
Georgia State 7 – 11   .389 10 – 22   .313
Louisiana–Monroe 1 – 17   .056 4 – 28   .125
† 2026 Sun Belt tournament winner

The 2025–26 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball season is the upcoming season for Sun Belt Conference men's basketball teams that will began with practices in October 2025, followed by the start of the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. Conference play will begin in December 2025, and conclude on February 27, 2026. The 2026 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament will take place from March 3–9, 2026, at the Pensacola Bay Center in Pensacola, Florida.[1]

Head coaches

Coaching Changes

Arkansas State

On March 24, 2025, head coach Bryan Hodgson left to become head coach of South Florida.[2] On March 30, 2025, former Alabama assistant coach, Ryan Pannone was named head coach.[3]

Louisiana

Houston associate head coach, Quannas White was named head coach of the Ragin' Cajuns on March 10, 2025.[4] This comes after 15-year head coach, Bob Marlin was fired on December 19, 2024.[5]

Louisiana–Monroe

Keith Richard retired at the end of the 2024–25 basketball season after fifteen seasons.[6] Assistant head coach, Phil Cuningham was named his successor

Coaches

Team Head coach Previous job Years at school Overall record Sun Belt record Sun Belt titles Sun Belt Tournament titles NCAA Tournaments
Appalachian State Dustin Kerns Presbyterian 7 133–91 (.594) 76–49 (.608) 1 1 1
Arkansas State Ryan Pannone Alabama (Asst.) 1 20–11 (.645) 11–7 (.611) 0 0 0
Coastal Carolina Justin Gray Western Carolina 2 29–34 (.460) 14–22 (.389) 0 0 0
Georgia Southern Charlie Henry Alabama (Asst.) 3 26–41 (.388) 6–20 (.231) 0 0 0
Georgia State Jonas Hayes Xavier (Assoc.) 3 38–58 (.396) 19–35 (.352) 0 0 0
James Madison Preston Spradlin Morehead State 2 20–13 (.606) 13–5 (.722) 1 0 0
Louisiana Quannas White Houston (Assoc.) 1 0–1 (.000) 0–0 (–) 1 1 1
Louisiana–Monroe Phil Cunningham Louisiana-Monroe (Asst.) 1 0–1 (.000) 0–0 (–) 0 0 0
Marshall Cornelius Jackson Marshall (Assoc.) 2 21–13 (.618) 12–6 (.667) 0 0 0
Old Dominion Mike Jones Maryland (Asst.) 2 15–21 (.417) .444 0 0 0
South Alabama Richie Riley Nicholls State 8 132–94 (.584) 70–55 (.560) 1 0 0
Southern Miss Jay Ladner Southeastern Louisiana 7 76–112 (.404) 38–69 (.355) 0 0 0
Texas State Terrence Johnson Texas State (Asst.) 6 86–69 (.555) 46–38 (.548) 2 0 0
Troy Scott Cross TCU (Asst.) 7 104–87 (.545) 56–50 (.528) 2 2 2

Preseason

Preseason Coaches Poll

On October 20, 2025, the conference announced a preseason conference poll as voted by the league's 14 head coaches.[7]

Rank Team
1. James Madison (1)
2. Arkansas State (3)
3. South Alabama (4)
4. Troy (1)
5. Old Dominion (2)
6. Marshall (1)
7. App State (1)
8. Texas State
9. Louisiana (1)
10. Georgia Southern
11. Georgia State
12. Southern Miss
13. Coastal Carolina
14. Louisiana–Monroe

Sun Belt preseason player of the year

  • Robert Davis Jr. –Old Dominion [7]

Preseason All-Sun Belt team

2025-26 Sun Belt Men's Basketball Preseason All-Conference Teams[7]
First Team Second Team Third Team

Robert Davis Jr. – Old Dominion
Bradley Douglas – James Madison
Thomas Dowd - Troy
Tyren Moore – Georgia Southern
Jalen Speer – Marshall

Eren Banks – Appalachian State
Mark Drone – Texas State
Jelani Hamilton – Georgia State
Chandler Jackson – Arkansas State
RaSheed Jones – Coastal Carolina

Jordan Battle – Old Dominon
John Broom – South Alabama
Kaden Grumbs – TexasState
Matt Van Komen – Marshall
Nakavieon White – Georgia Southern

Regular season

Early season tournaments

Team Tournament Finish
Arkansas State Arkansas State Multi Team Event 1st
Coastal Carolina Western Illinois MTE 1st
Georgia State Cancún Challenge –
James Madison FIU MTE 1st
Louisiana–Monroe ETSU MTE 3rd
South Alabama Showdown in St. Pete 1st
Texas State Resort World Las Vegas Classic 4th
Troy Coconut Hoops 3rd

Conference matrix

  APP ASU CCU GSO GST JMU UL ULM MAR ODU USA USM TXS TROY
vs. Appalachian State — 0–0 67–49
62–67 		0–0 63–70
52–50 		80–65 0–0 0–0 81–88 81–73
73–75 		65–57 0–0 0–0 0–0
vs. Arkansas State 0–0 — 0–0 0–0 0–0 74–78 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 93–86 89–70 86–74
vs. Coastal Carolina 49–67
67–62 		0–0 — 81–82 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 76–74
66–70 		0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0
vs. Georgia Southern 0–0 0–0 82–81 — 90−67 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 93–86 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0
vs. Georgia State 70–63
50–52 		0–0 0–0 67–90 — 96–92 0–0 0–0 80–84 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0
vs. James Madison 65–80 0–0 0–0 0–0 92–96 — 64–66 0–0 0–0 68–74
70–69 		0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0
vs. Louisiana 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 — 76–62 0–0 0–0 58–63 54–62
74–67 		0–0 0–0
vs. Louisiana–Monroe 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 62–76 — 0–0 0–0 92–96 0–0 0–0 0–0
vs. Marshall 88–81 0–0 0–0 0–0 84–80 66–64 0–0 0–0 — 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 63–70
vs. Old Dominion 73–81
75–73 		0–0 74–76
70–66 		86–93 0–0 74–68
69–70 		0–0 0–0 0–0 — 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0
vs. South Alabama 57–65 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 63–58 96–92 0–0 0–0 — 0–0 65−67 49–59
vs. Southern Miss 0–0 86–93 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 62–54
74–67 		0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 — 0–0 0–0
vs. Texas State 0–0 70–89 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 67–65 0–0 — 0–0
vs. Troy 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 70–63 0–0 59–49 0–0 0–0 —
Total 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0

Player of the week

Week Player(s) of the Week School
Nov 10[8] Cooper Campbell Troy
Nov 17[9] Spudd Webb Georgia Southern
Nov 24[10] Tylik Weeks Southern Miss
Dec 1[11] Justin McBride James Madison
Dec 8[12] Spudd Webb (2) Georgia Southern
Dec 16[13] Alonzo Dodd Appalachian State
Dec 23[14] Chaze Harris South Alabama
Dec 30[15] A.J. Dancler Coastal Carolina
Jan 5[16] Jalen Speer Marshall
Jan 12[17] Adam Olsen South Alabama
Jan 19[18] Victor Valdes Troy
Jan 27[19] Jelani Hamilton Georgia State
Feb 2[20] Kasen Jennings Appalachian State
Feb 9[21] Djahi Binet Southern Miss
Feb 16[22] Chaze Harris (2) South Alabama
Feb 23[23] Cliff Davis James Madison
Mar 2[24] A.J. Dancler (2) Coastal Carolina

Records against other conferences

Power 6 Conferences
Conference Record
ACC 0–5
Big East 0–1
Big Ten 0–2
Big 12 0–2
Pac–12 0–0
SEC 0–2
Combined 0–12
Other NCAA Division I Conferences Record
America East 0–0
American 3–5
ASUN 1–3
Atlantic 10 0–2
Big Sky 0–0
Big South 5–4
Big West 0–2
CAA 2–5
Conference USA 7–2
Horizon 0–1
Independents/Non-Division I 0–0
Ivy 1–0
MAAC 0–0
MAC 4–11
MEAC 5–1
Missouri Valley 0–1
Mountain West 1–0
Northeast 2–0
OVC 4–1
Patriot 0–1
Southern 1–2
Southland 4–3
SWAC 6–1
Summit 2–1
West Coast 0–3
WAC 2–0
Combined 49–51

Post season

Sun Belt tournament

Main article: 2026 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament
First round
Tuesday, March 3
ESPN+		Second round
Wednesday, March 4
ESPN+		Third round
Thursday, March 5
ESPN+		Fourth round
Friday, March 6
ESPN+		Quarterfinals
Saturday, March 7
ESPN+		Semifinals
Sunday, March 8
ESPN+		Championship
Monday, March 9
ESPN 2
1Troy
4Appalachian State73
5Texas State778Southern Miss86
8Southern Miss868Southern Miss81
9James Madison879James Madison80
12Louisiana8412Louisiana72
13Georgia State75
2Marshall
3Coastal Carolina
6South Alabama8510Georgia State
7Arkansas State7710Georgia State94
10Georgia Southern8810Georgia State80
11Old Dominion8711Old Dominion84
14Louisiana-Monroe80

Source:[25]

* – Denotes overtime period

NCAA tournament

Main article: 2026 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
Seed Region School First Four 1st round
Troy
W–L (%): 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) Total: 0–0 (–)

National Invitation Tournament

Main article: 2026 National Invitation Tournament
Seed Bracket School 1st round 2nd round
W–L (%): 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) Total: 0–0 (–)


Honors and awards

Sun Belt Awards

[26]

2024-25 Sun Belt Men's Basketball Individual Awards
Award Recipient(s)
Player of the Year Chaze Harris – South Alabama
Coach of the Year Scott Cross – Troy
Defensive Player of the Year Luke Wilson – Appalachian State
Newcomer of the Year Joshua Beadle – Coastal Carolina
Freshman of the Year D.J. Hall – Texas State
Sixth Man Award Joey Chammaa – Arkansas State
2025-26 Sun Belt Men's Basketball All-Conference Teams
First Team Second Team Third Team

Joshua Beadle – Coastal Carolina
Thomas Dowd – Troy
Wyatt Fricks – Marshall
Chaze Harris – South Alabama
Tylik Weeks – Southern Miss

D.J. Hall – Texas State
Jelani Hamilton – Georgia Southern
Kasen Jennings – Appalachian State
Adam Olsen – South Alabama
Jalen Speer – Marshall

Cliff Davis – James Madison
Alonzo Dodd – Appalachian State
Christian Harmon – Arkansas State
Justin McBride – James Madison
Victor Valdes – Troy

References

  1. ^ "Sun Belt Conference Unveils Complete 2025-26 Championships Schedule". August 11, 2025.
  2. ^ "Bryan Hodgson named South Florida head men's basketball coach". Retrieved October 29, 2025.
  3. ^ "A-State Names Pannone Head Men's Basketball Coach". Arkansas State Red Wolves Athletics. March 30, 2025. Retrieved October 30, 2025.
  4. ^ Mia Belt, Shannon (March 10, 2025). "UL basketball announces Quannas White as new head coach". The Daily Advertiser. Retrieved October 29, 2025.
  5. ^ Yoshonis, Scott (December 19, 2024). "UL fires men's basketball coach Bob Marlin". KLFY. Retrieved October 30, 2025.
  6. ^ "ULM Men's Basketball Head Coach Keith Richard to Retire at Conclusion of 2024-25 Season". ULM Warhawks. University of Louisiana Monroe Athletics. December 20, 2024. Retrieved October 29, 2025.
  7. ^ a b c "James Madison Tabbed 2025-26 Sun Belt Men's Basketball Favorite & ODU's Davis Named Preseason Player of the Year".
  8. ^ "Troy's Cooper Campbell Tabbed Sun Belt Men's Basketball Player of the Week". November 11, 2025. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  9. ^ "Georgia Southern's Spudd Webb Named Sun Belt Men's Basketball Player of the Week". Sun Belt Sports. November 18, 2025. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  10. ^ "Southern Miss' Tylik Weeks Named Sun Belt Men's Basketball Player of the Week". November 25, 2025. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  11. ^ "James Madison's Justin McBride Earns Sun Belt Men's Basketball Player of the Week Honor". December 2, 2025. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  12. ^ "Georgia Southern's Webb Nets Second Sun Belt Men's Basketball Player of the Week Accolade". December 9, 2025. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  13. ^ "App State's Dodd Collects Sun Belt Men's Basketball Player of the Week Honor". December 16, 2025. Retrieved December 18, 2025.
  14. ^ "South Alabama's Chaze Harris Garners Sun Belt Men's Basketball Player of the Week Nod". December 23, 2025. Retrieved January 1, 2026.
  15. ^ "Coastal Carolina's Dancler Secures Sun Belt Men's Basketball Player of the Week Honor". December 30, 2025. Retrieved January 5, 2026.
  16. ^ "Marshall's Speer Nets Sun Belt Men's Basketball Player of the Week Accolade". January 6, 2026. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
  17. ^ "South Alabama's Olsen Tabbed Sun Belt Men's Basketball Player of the Week". January 13, 2026. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
  18. ^ "Troy's Valdes Garners Sun Belt Men's Basketball Player of the Week Accolade". sunbeltsports.org. January 20, 2026. Retrieved January 21, 2026.
  19. ^ "Georgia State's Hamilton Secures Sun Belt Men's Basketball Player of the Week Honor". sunbeltsports.org. January 27, 2026. Retrieved January 28, 2026.
  20. ^ "App State's Jennings Collects Sun Belt Men's Basketball Player of the Week Accolade". Sun Belt Sports. February 3, 2026. Retrieved February 4, 2026.
  21. ^ "Southern Miss' Djahi Binet Secures Sun Belt Men's Basketball Player of the Week Accolade". Sun Belt Sports. February 10, 2026. Retrieved February 16, 2026.
  22. ^ "South Alabama's Chaze Harris Collects Second Sun Belt Men's Basketball Player of the Week Honor". sunbeltsports.org. February 17, 2026. Retrieved February 19, 2026.
  23. ^ "James Madison's Cliff Davis Nets Sun Belt Men's Basketball Player of the Week Nod". sunbeltsports.org. February 24, 2026. Retrieved February 28, 2026.
  24. ^ "Coastal Carolina's Dancler Collects Second Sun Belt Men's Basketball Player of the Week Accolade". March 2, 2026. Retrieved March 2, 2026.
  25. ^ "Bracket Unveiled for 2026 Visit Pensacola Sun Belt Men's Basketball Championship Presented By Air Force Reserve". Sun Belt Sports. February 27, 2026. Retrieved March 2, 2026.
  26. ^ "Sun Belt Announces 2025-26 Men's Basketball Postseason Awards & All-Conference Team". sunbeltsports.org. March 2, 2026. Retrieved March 2, 2026.
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