Checking in on the… Sun Belt
Posted by rtmsf on December 21st, 2008Rick Henderson of The Owl’s Nest is the RTC correspondent for the Sun Belt Conference.
Top of the Hill?
Can’t figure out Western Kentucky. Just after upsetting the then #3 Louisville Cardinals, they go on to get waxed by Evansville 72-40. A couple of points fine. But 32? This obviously was scheduled as a “quality road game meant to be a win”, but the final score resembled a “guarantee” game. Well, we “guarantee” you that Evansville is one happy camper team right now adding this “W” to thier 7-1 record. The Purple Aces held the Toppers to a mere 26.7 FG% on the night. The loss comes on the heels of having made a nice out-of-conference run by defeating Northern Illinois, Louisville, Georgia, and Tulane consecutively. The Toppers did recover by gaining a big conference win over fellow East powerhouse USA.
UNT’s Tristan sets School Record
University of North Texas forward Tristan Thompson became the first player in school history to record a night of perfect shooting (minimum five attempts) when he went 6-6 from the floor, including 2-2 from 3-point, and 6-6 from the charity stripe for 20 points against Sam Houston State. Fresh off this stellar peformance, he was hot again, and dropped 21 points on 7-9 (77.8 percent) shooting against former Sun Belt Conference member New Mexico. Tristan currently leads the Mean Green in scoring with 12PPG and is shooting nearly 50 percent from the floor.
SBC Coaches: Please Stop Scheduling A-Sun Teams Until Futher Notice
So far, the Belt has lost two games to A-Sun squads. First to get bitten was Florida Atlantic with a disappointing road loss to western Florida state foe Florida Gulf Coast University 60-55. Then major poll pre-season favorite Middle Tennessee gets hammered at Belmont in a game that was, for all intents and purposes, a blow out from the start. Here’s the deal: They have a better TV package with College Sports Southeast. They have added three brand new facilities, and have another one on the way soon. In case no one has noticed, they are only a couple spots back in the RPI, now having jumped up three spots due to wins like this. And lastly, they are recruiting at a much higher level than three years ago given these changes. Time to move on from this conference for now. Schedule someone else.
Conference Action Underway
SBC action began for most teams this week. Here’s the current standings:
East
- Western Ky. 1-0 6-3
- South Alabama 0-1 6-5
- Middle Tenn. 1-0 4-5
- Troy 1-1 4-6
- FAU 0-2 4-7
- FIU 0-1 4-7
West
- Arkansas St. 1-0 8-2
- North Texas 1-0 8-2
- Ark.-Little Rock 0-0 7-3
- New Orleans 0-0 4-5
- UL-Lafayette 1-1 4-5
- Denver 1-0 3-6
- UL-Monroe 0-1 2-7
Upcoming Games to Keep an RP-Eye On
Money games on tap for the SBC during our interval between updates:
- Sat, Dec 23 – FIU v. Georgetown – Washington DC (6:30pm)
- Sat, Dec 27 – FAU v. Kentucky – Lexington, KY (4pm)
- Sun Dec 28 – WKU v. Florida St. – Sunrise, FL (5pm)
- Sat, Dec 29 – ASU v. Oklahoma St. – Stillwater, OK (7pm)
WKU bouncing FSU is probably the best shot at an RPI boost out of the bunch, but don’t rule out ASU. They are the hottest team in the league right now and could give the Cowboys a legitimate tussel in Stillwater.
Also of note, Kentucky did drop a home game last season to the A-Sun’s Gardner-Webb. If anyone in the SBC could coach an underdog to a victory in Rupp Arena, it would be Jarvis. FAU welcomes Pre-Season pick for player of the year Carlos Monroe back into the line up after having served a nine game suspension due to an academic violation. He is doing well since returning, and scored 23 recently against Troy in an FAU loss.
