As the Sun Belt’s Spring Meetings came to an end on Monday, it was announced that they will pause their previously announced men’s basketball scheduling plans that were set to begin for the 2019-20 season.
“Given the heightened importance we are placing on men’s basketball and after an in-depth analysis of how to improve the quality and strength of our scheduling, we have come to the conclusion that the pod schedule format should not be our highest priority at this time,” said Sun Belt and Georgia State University President Dr. Mark Becker.
A lot of this was brought on because of the NCAA now using NET rankings while the model that was going to be used was based around the old RPI system.
In addition to the reevaluation of the conference schedule, the Sun Belt is considering concepts to schedule more non-conference games against Quadrant 1 or 2 opponents that will improve team’s NET ranking as well as the conference.
“The Sun Belt’s goal is to be a conference that earns multiple NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament bids,” said Sun Belt Commissioner Keith Gill. “By the actions today, Sun Belt presidents and chancellors demonstrated that they are committed to an approach that will result in better men’s basketball postseason outcomes.”
For the 2019-20 season, the Sun Belt will continue to use the mirror schedule for both men’s and women’s basketball. The big difference though is that men’s basketball will play a 20-game slate while women’s hoops will participate in an 18-game conference schedule.
-Clint Domingue