![]() We have learned that our community is really starving for a big event like this.” “The conference has learned a lot of things about what our community is about. “But really, I think like anything you do in multiple years, you get a chance every year to tweak it a little bit. “Stay away from Covid,” said Palmer, when asked what he learned most. One of the takeaways from the first two years was something no one could control. I go places and now get asked about it all the time. “The Sun Belt Conference staff has been fantastic, the Bay Center, and all our partners are kind of learning their role on how we can maximize the exposure. “But I think it is a matter of learning how people work together. “Ticket sales are exceeding all past years in a significant way,” said Ray Palmer, executive director of Pensacola Sports, which worked in tandem with the county to bring the Sun Belt tournaments to the community. The women’s and men’s championship games are March 6 and both televised on ESPN outlets. followed by the men’s semifinals at 5 p.m. On Sunday (March 5), the women’s semifinals will start at 11:30 a.m. The women’s quarterfinals will be Friday. 4 seed Troy, coached by former Pensacola State College women’s coach Chanda Rigby, who led Troy to the Sun Belt Tournament title in 2021. 2 Texas State, then Southern Miss and No. On the women’s side, James Madison earned the tournament’s top seed, followed by No. Under the revamped, 14-team format, the Golden Eagles receive a bye into the quarterfinal round on Saturday, which could be a big attendance day at the Bay Center.Īlso receiving byes as Top 4 league finishers were fellow newcomers Marshall and James Madison, along with the established Sun Belt member Ragin’ Cajuns, who have brought a sizeable group of fans in the first two years at the Bay Center. Southern Miss received Top 25 votes in last week’s Associated Press men’s college basketball poll. a great spirit is there and our players are feeding off that.” To go from where we are from the start of the season when there probably were just a few hundred people in the stands…. “Our basketball fan base has been so hungry,” said USM coach Jay Ladner, speaking to media following the game that night. 10 to move into first place in SBC standings. Southern Miss also attracted its first sellout crowd (8,097) in five years when beating the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns on Feb. Their 25-6 overall record is the most since Southern Miss became a Division I member and second-most in the team’s 70-year history of men’s basketball. “Our new schools bring a lot of excitement and engagement to Pensacola.”įor the Golden Eagles, who were 1-17 a year ago in Conference-USA, it was their first men’s conference title in 22 years. We feel like we are well positioned to weather any storms that come our way and excited about the schools we have. “We feel like we’re in a really good place,” said Gill, who was guest speaker at the 69 th annual Pensacola Sports Awards Banquet on Feb. The Sun Belt’s four additions provide established D-1 programs to give the league a bigger reach. Two previous Sun Belt schools, Texas Arlington (Western Athletic Conference) and Arkansas-Little Rock (Ohio Valley Conference) aligned with new conferences to begin the 2022-2023 athletic year, as part of massive shakeup throughout Division I athletics. The four schools give the league 14 members. ![]() The other three new league members playing in Pensacola will be Marshall, James Madison and Old Dominion. Southern Mississippi, one of four new schools to the league this year, won the men’s regular-season title and shared first place on the women’s basketball side. This is the mid-point of the league’s five-year agreement with Escambia County to have the men’s and women’s tournament at the Pensacola Bay Center. Pensacola has really embraced it and we are excited to get back this year.”Ģ022 Men's SBC Championship: Georgia State redeems 2021 finals loss, punches ticket to March MadnessĢ022 Women's SBC Championship: UT-Arlington ends Troy's reign, headed to NCAA Tourney “When I drove into town, I saw the flags, the banners so having such a presence here is huge for us. And each year we want to build it and that is what I feel like we’ve done. One of the things we said is that we want to be here for the long haul. “It was the start of a fabulous relationship and one that continues to grow,” Gill said. “One of the highlights of my (4-year) tenure is bringing our basketball tournament championships to Pensacola,” said Sun Belt commissioner Keith Gill, an Orlando native, Duke University graduate.
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