NCAA Basketball: 2023 Sun Belt Tournament preview and best bets
By Brian Emory
Darkhorse team to watch: South Alabama
While conference tournaments have become rather meaningless in the major conferences, the opposite could not be more true for the mid-majors. There is only one bid up for grabs out of the Sun Belt, so even the strongest teams understand that one bad night could spell the end of an otherwise great season. Because of the do-or-die nature of these tournaments, there is usually one sleeper team entering the weekend that every other coach agrees they don’t want to face.
That team in the Sun Belt this year is the South Alabama Jaguars. The Jaguars are red-hot rolling into Pensacola, winning eight of their last 10 games. Not only are the Jaguars winning games, but they’re also straight-up boat-racing teams. In just the last three weeks the Jaguars have wins over Appalachian State by 17, Southern Miss by 31, and Louisiana Monroe by 36.
The Jaguars are led by senior guard Isaiah Moore who averages 18.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. South Alabama also has a huge presence in the paint in Antiguan center Kevin Samuel, who averages 10.2 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 blocks per contest.
South Alabama will get its postseason underway Thursday afternoon against the Appalachian State Mountaineers, who went on a run themselves to cut down the nets in Pensacola just two seasons ago.