After Saturday’s tough loss, there seems to be a portion of Cajun nation that is concerned about their chances of winning the Sun Belt Tournament. While there’s some justification for that because they did just lose to the last place team in the Sun Belt at home, it also sound like some Chicken Little mentality from my point of view.
Outside of two losses in conference play, the Cajuns have dominated the rest of the conference. You pair that with an underwhelming Sun Belt Conference, this team has a great chance to make it into the tournament finals. Why do I have so much confidence in this program after their loss to Little Rock? They don’t have to face Georgia State, the one team that could truly spoil the Cajuns until the finals.
While Cajuns fans aren’t big fans of the loss this past weekend, imagine how fans of the Panthers are right now? Georgia State has lost four of their last six, including a 13-point loss to Troy last Thursday. If the Sun Belt wasn’t so top-heavy this season, the Panthers could probably be the five seed in the tournament.
What makes me wonder if the Cajuns will face Georgia State at all is the fact that the Panthers will face off against either South Alabama or Troy. With how up and down their performance has been in recent weeks, do you believe that they could beat the Jags twice or beat Troy after they dominated them at home.
While the loss on Saturday was concerning, I’m not saying the sky is falling at all and I think they’ll shake the cobwebs out and establish dominance over the course of three days with a ticket to the big dance within reach. Bryce Washington said it best, “You’re going to see a whole different player going forward”. These guys know the stakes and are going to be more than up for the challenge.