2008 Woodie Awards
Tournament Preview
Issue date: 2/25/08 Section: Sports
March Madness is just around the corner and the Sun Belt Conference is ready to have their annual conference tournament. Although the conference teams don't finish the season until this weekend, we decided to reveal our preview ahead of schedule. The big stories in the tournament are felt on a national standpoint.
On the women's side, Middle Tennessee is currently involved in a season full of departures and surprising losses. Through it all, they were able to defeat Western Kentucky and then-eighth ranked Louisiana State University in front of the Murphy Center crowd. Western Kentucky has encountered a season to remember and seem to be on a collision course of a conference tournament title. Crystal Kelly broke the conference record for points scored in a career and she will have her jersey retired later this week.
The West division race is incredibly cloudy, with Arkansas-Little Rock in first place at the moment. This weekend will determine who will gain a bye into the quarterfinals of the tournament.
History has been made in SBC men's basketball. New Orleans' senior guard Bo McCalebb has set numerous scoring records. This season, McCalebb, the conference preseason player of the year, became the SBC's career leading scorer.
There is a legitimate possibility that two teams, South Alabama and WKU, could receive at-large bids for the NCAA tournament. Each has won more than 20 games and both are currently 14-2 in conference play.
In the West Division, as of Sunday, there is a three-way tie for first place between Lousiana-Lafayette, UALR and North Texas. The team that wins the division will receive a first round bye while the other two teams will have to play first round games.
On the women's side, Middle Tennessee is currently involved in a season full of departures and surprising losses. Through it all, they were able to defeat Western Kentucky and then-eighth ranked Louisiana State University in front of the Murphy Center crowd. Western Kentucky has encountered a season to remember and seem to be on a collision course of a conference tournament title. Crystal Kelly broke the conference record for points scored in a career and she will have her jersey retired later this week.
The West division race is incredibly cloudy, with Arkansas-Little Rock in first place at the moment. This weekend will determine who will gain a bye into the quarterfinals of the tournament.
History has been made in SBC men's basketball. New Orleans' senior guard Bo McCalebb has set numerous scoring records. This season, McCalebb, the conference preseason player of the year, became the SBC's career leading scorer.
There is a legitimate possibility that two teams, South Alabama and WKU, could receive at-large bids for the NCAA tournament. Each has won more than 20 games and both are currently 14-2 in conference play.
In the West Division, as of Sunday, there is a three-way tie for first place between Lousiana-Lafayette, UALR and North Texas. The team that wins the division will receive a first round bye while the other two teams will have to play first round games.
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