Brandon Hazzard and the Troy men are the top seed in the Sun Belt Conference tourney which begins March 6 in Hot Springs, Ark. (Photo courtesy Troy Unv. Athletics)

Contributed
(March 1, 2010)

The seeds and schedule were announced Sunday for the 2010 Sun Belt Men’s and Women’s Basketball tourneys, which runs March 6-9 in Hot Springs, Ark.

The opening round on Saturday, March 6 will have a total of ten games contested - five first round men’s games and five first round women’s games.  The first day will be broken up in two sessions with the morning session consisting of six games with the first game of the tournament set to tip at 9:45 a.m. (CT).  Game times will be staggered throughout the day so that Sun Belt fans can go from court to court to watch as much basketball as they wish.  The second session on Saturday will start with a 6:30 p.m. (CT) tip time and the final game of the day is set for 9 p.m. (CT).

The quarterfinals on Sunday, March 7 will have eight total games - four men’s games and four women’s games.  Sunday’s first session will begin at 12 p.m. (CT) and the second session will again start at 6:30 p.m. (CT).  Both of Sunday’s sessions will feature four games.

The semifinals will be conducted on Monday, March 8 and the tournament will conclude with the men’s and women’s championship games taking place on Tuesday, March 9.  The semifinals and championship games will follow the same format as in previous years and only one court will be needed for these games.

Tip time for the women’s championship game is set for 1 p.m. (CT) and the game will be broadcast on ESPNU as part of the Sun Belt Conference’s new agreement with ESPN.  The men’s championship game will tip at 6 p.m. (CT) on ESPN2.  The Sun Belt Conference men’s basketball championship game has been broadcast nationally by ESPN for 29 consecutive years, marking its longest affiliation with any conference in the country.

Adjustments to the locations for Game 2 and Game 3 of the first round and Game 6 and Game 7 of the quarterfinals were made to accommodate anticipated crowd size.

Sun Belt Conference Men’s Basketball Championship
Saturday, March 6
Game 1 - 2:15 p.m. - No. 8 Florida Atlantic vs. No. 9 South Alabama (Summit Arena)
Game 2 - 6:45 p.m. - No. 4 WKU vs. No. 13 New Orleans (Convention Center Court)
Game 3 - 6:30 p.m. - No. 5 Arkansas State vs. No. 12 UALR (Summit Arena)
Game 4 - 8:45 p.m. - No. 6 Denver vs. No. 11 FIU (Summit Arena)
Game 5 - 9:00 p.m. - No. 7 Louisiana-Lafayette vs. No. 10 Louisiana-Monroe (Convention Center Court)

Sunday, March 7
Game 6 - 6:45 p.m. - No. 1 Troy vs. Winner Game 1 (Convention Center Court)
Game 7 - 6:30 p.m. - Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3 (Summit Arena)
Game 8 - 8:45 p.m. - No. 2 North Texas vs. Winner Game 5 (Summit Arena)
Game 9 - 9:00 p.m. - No. 3 Middle Tennessee vs. Winner Game 4 (Convention Center Court)

Monday, March 8
Game 10 - 6:00 p.m. - Winner Game 6 vs. Winner Game 7 (Summit Arena) - Sun Belt Network
Game 11 - 8:30 p.m. - Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 9 (Summit Arena) - Sun Belt Network

Tuesday, March 9
Championship Game - 6 p.m. (Summit Arena) - ESPN2

Sun Belt Conference Women’s Basketball Championship

Saturday, March 6
Game 1 - 9:45 a.m. - No. 4 Denver vs. No. 13 Louisiana-Monroe (Summit Arena)
Game 2 - 10:00 a.m. - No. 5 Florida Atlantic vs. No. 12 New Orleans (Convention Center Court)
Game 3 - 12:00 p.m. - No. 6 South Alabama vs. No. 11 Louisiana-Lafayette (Summit Arena)
Game 4 - 12:15 p.m. - No. 8 Arkansas State vs. No. 9 Troy (Convention Center Court)
Game 5 - 2:30 p.m. - No. 7 FIU vs. No. 10 North Texas (Convention Center Court)

Sunday, March 7
Game 6 - 12:00 p.m. - No. 1 UALR vs. Winner Game 4 (Summit Arena)
Game 7 - 12:15 p.m. - Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 (Convention Center Court)
Game 8 - 2:15 p.m. - No. 2 Middle Tennessee vs. Winner Game 5 (Summit Arena)
Game 9 - 2:30 p.m. - No. 3 WKU vs. Winner Game 3 (Convention Center Court)

Monday, March 8
Game 10 - 12:00 p.m. - Winner Game 6 vs. Winner Game 7 (Summit Arena) - Sun Belt Network
Game 11 - 2:30 p.m. - Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 9 (Summit Arena) - Sun Belt Network

Tuesday, March 9
Championship Game - 1 p.m. (Summit Arena) - ESPNU