College Basketball Betting: Sun Belt Conference Preview

The 2021-2022 college basketball season will be a much more normal season than 2020-21, because of COVID-19. Last season was dramatically disrupted because of the pandemic hitting in winter and forcing a lot of logistical problems. One of the bigger and more noticeable aspects of last season is that the Sun Belt’s two divisions didn’t play each other until the conference tournament. West teams played each other in the regular season, and East teams did the same, but they didn’t compete in a full conference context until the tournament, which Appalachian State won as a lower-seeded team after being below .500 in the Sun Belt regular season. This represents a lot of chaos, making it more difficult – not less – to predict how the 2022 Sun Belt basketball season will unfold.

Team Likely To Surprise

The Texas State Bobcats have not been a traditional power in the Sun Belt. They will get overlooked in the discussions of the conference’s best team. Most people will focus on Louisiana-Lafayette, Georgia State, South Alabama, and Coastal Carolina. Texas State could sneak up on those teams. The Bobcats almost did win the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, and their near miss will motivate this team to make the NCAA Tournament in 2022. The Bobcats might not get there, but they will give it a good run and will come closer to the prize than many people think.

Team Likely To Disappoint

The Appalachian State Mountaineers won the Sun Belt Conference Tournament last year and gained the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, raising expectations for this season. Those expectations are going to be very hard to live up to. The transfer portal in college basketball had over 1,200 players (if not more) at one point this past spring. The transfer portal is now an absolutely essential part of college basketball recruiting and roster construction. If teams aren’t working the portal, they are getting left behind. Appalachian State did not make many splashy transfer portal acquisitions this offseason. That fact, combined with the reality that the Sun Belt will go back to a full conference schedule instead of teams from divisions not playing each other until the conference tournament, should expose App State as a team which is not yet ready for prime time.

Conference Champion

The Georgia State Panthers are in a great spot to win the Sun Belt. They have two players with a great chance to land on the All-Sun Belt First Team this year, Corey Allen and Eliel Nsoseme. Georgia State has an experienced lineup coming back for this season. It has a balanced lineup with several players who averaged at least 11 points per game last year. There is a concern that late in games, GSU doesn’t have one player who will take the big shots. Deciding on who gets the ball on big possessions could be a problem. However, balance and depth are two clear team strengths, which should help the Panthers both in the long haul of the regular season and in the grueling arena of the conference tournament. Louisiana-Lafayette and South Alabama both made transfer portal upgrades, but Georgia State might have the most complete roster in the conference at this point.