The 2026 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for Sun Belt Conference during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. All tournament games were played at Pensacola Bay Center between March 3–9, 2026. The winner, Troy, received the conference's automatic bid to the 2026 NCAA tournament.
Seeds All fourteen conference teams will qualify for the tournament. Teams will be seeded by record within the conference, with a tiebreaker system to seed teams with identical conference records. The tournament will use a unique stepladder system giving the top two teams byes to the tournament semifinals and the No. 3 and No. 4 teams byes to the tournament quarterfinals. The top ten teams will receive at least one bye. SeedSchoolConferencerecordTiebreaker1Tiebreaker2Tiebreaker3Tiebreaker4Tiebreaker5Tiebreaker61Troy12–62Marshall11–73–0 vs. USM/JMU3Coastal Carolina11–72–1 vs. USM/JMU2–0 vs. MRSH1–0 vs. TXST4Appalachian State11–72–1 vs. USM/JMU0–2 vs. MRSH1–0 vs. Troy5Texas State11–71–2 vs. USM/JMU1–0 vs. MRSH0–1 vs. CCU1–1 vs. Troy1–0 vs. MRSH6South Alabama11–72–1 vs. USM/JMU0–1 vs. MRSH1–1 vs. Troy0–1 vs. MRSH2–0 vs. ARST7Arkansas State11–72–1 vs. USM/JMU0–1 vs. MRSH1–1 vs. Troy0–1 vs. MRSH0–2 vs. USA8Southern Miss9–91–0 vs. JMU9James Madison9–90–1 vs. USM10Georgia Southern8–1011Old Dominion7–113–0 vs. UL/GAST12 Louisiana7–111–1 vs. ODU/GAST1–0 vs. GAST13Georgia State7–110–3 vs. ODU/UL0–1 vs. UL14Louisiana–Monroe1–17
Schedule GameTime MatchupScoreAttendanceTelevisionFirst round – Tuesday, March 315:00 p.m.No. 12 Louisiana vs. No. 13 Georgia State84–75629ESPN+27:30 p.m.No. 11 Old Dominion vs. No. 14 Louisiana–Monroe87–80719Second round – Wednesday, March 435:00 p.m.No. 9 James Madison vs. No. 12 Louisiana87–72824ESPN+47:30 p.m.No. 10 Georgia Southern vs. No. 11 Old Dominion88–84931Third round – Thursday, March 555:00 p.m.No. 8 Southern Miss vs. No. 9 James Madison86–801,081ESPN+67:30 p.m.No. 7 Arkansas State vs. No. 10 Georgia Southern77–801,374Fourth round – Friday, March 675:00 p.m.No. 5 Texas State vs. No. 8 Southern Miss77–811,248ESPN+87:30 p.m.No. 6 South Alabama vs. No. 10 Georgia Southern85–941,867Quarterfinals – Saturday, March 795:30 p.m.No. 4 Appalachian State vs. No. 8 Southern Miss73–861,534ESPN+108:00 p.m.No. 3 Coastal Carolina vs. No. 10 Georgia Southern72–961,685Semifinals – Sunday, March 8115:00 p.m.No. 1 Troy vs. No. 8 Southern Miss78–701,850ESPN+128:00 p.m.No. 2 Marshall vs. No. 10 Georgia Southern78–822,103Final – Monday, March 9136:00 p.m.No. 1 Troy vs. No. 10 Georgia Southern77–612,555ESPN2Game times in CT; ranking denotes tournament seed
Bracket
Awards and honors Tournament MVP: Thomas Dowd, Troy
SBC All-Tournament Team Thomas Dowd, Troy Jerrell Bellamy, Troy Alden Applewhite, Georgia Southern Tyren Moore, Georgia Southern Spudd Webb, Georgia Southern Tylik Weeks, Southern Miss
See also 2026 Sun Belt Conference women's basketball tournament
References