The Sun Belt Tournament will be played at South Alabama's Mitchell Center, Friday through Tuesday night.

Host South Alabama is just 5-3 in Sun Belt home games (compared to 6-2 in SBC road games), but the Jaguars did win the SBC West Division (11-5) and there's a lot to be said for homecourt advantage in a conference tournament.

The Favorite

Western Kentucky (21-6, 14-2) has emerged as the Sun Belt's most dominant team during the regular season, winning the East Division behind 7-foot junior center Chris Marcus -- who could become the Sun Belt's first NBA lottery pick -- along with a combination of defense and rebounding.

However, it's also difficult to ignore home-standing South Alabama (20-9) and Louisiana-Lafayette (15-12).

As for ULL, the Ragin' Cajuns (10-6) are the Sun Belt's defending champions, and they return all five starters and eight seniors from last year's NCAA Tournament team. Plus, after a five-game swoon in early-February, the Cajuns have won five consecutive games at the best possible time.

The Darkhorse

New Orleans (16-11, 10-6) isn't the Sun Belt's most talented team, but the Privateers have five senior starters and they already won at South Alabama less than two weeks ago (67-58, Feb. 17). When they're hot, the Privateers are the best shooting team in the Sun Belt.

Another darkhorse possibility would be Louisiana Tech. The Bulldogs (17-11, 10-6) are playing in their final Sun Belt Tournament (they're moving to the WAC next season), and they beat Western Kentucky, South Alabama and Louisiana-Lafayette in three consecutive games two weeks ago before closing their regular-season schedule with three surprising losses.

The Stars

With 16.2 points, 11.7 rebounds and 3.3 blocked shots per game, Marcus is the most dominating player in the Sun Belt -- when he chooses to play aggressively and assertively in the post.

Tech's Gerrod Henderson, the 2000 Sun Belt player of the year, ranks third in the conference with 18.6 points per game and is capable of taking over any contest. The duo of Henderson and forward Antonio Meeking (14.4 ppg, 7.9 rpg) makes Tech a dangerous team in the tournament.

Another dangerous duo is South Alabama's Virgil Stanescu (13.2 ppg, 8.5 rpg) and Ravonte Dantzler (13.2 ppg, .471 3-point shooting percentage).

UNO's Tory Walker averages 15.5 ppg on a team with balanced scoring, but he's been hot lately, coming through in a big way in big games).

At 7-foot, center Jason Jennings gives Arkansas State plenty of size in the middle, as well as 14.1 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.48 blocks per game.

UALR has produced the Sun Belt's biggest turnaround this season, led by seniors Stan Blackmon (18.8 ppg, 7.2 rpg), Alan Barksdale (11.8 ppg) and Laverne Smith (13.0 ppg).

FIU has struggled all season, but point guard Carlos Arroyo still leads the Sun Belt with 21 points and 3.65 assists per game.

Who's Hot

Western Kentucky has won 11 of its past 12 games and continues to improve, winning its last four games by an average of 28.5 points per game since losing 73-72 at Louisiana Tech on Feb. 10.

ULL has won five consecutive games after dropping five in early February, led by the improved playmaking and court leadership of sophomore point guard Kenneth Lawrence.

UNO's Walker has averaged 21.6 points per game over his past five games, while shooting .565 from the field (39 of 69).

FIU lost nine of its first 11 Sun Belt games of the season, but finished strong with three consecutive victories at the end of the regular season, including two over teams with winning records (Louisiana Tech and UALR).

Recent History

The No. 1 or No. 2 seeds have won the past 13 Sun Belt Tournament titles.

Then again, it doesn't necessarily pay to be the top seed in the Sun Belt tournament. In fact, in last year's tournament, Louisiana-Lafayette became the seventh No. 2 seed in the last 11 tournaments to win the Sun Belt title.

That doesn't exactly bode well for the No. 1 seeds if they fail to win the tournament. The Sun Belt hasn't placed more than one team in the NCAA Tournament since 1994, and if this season's RPI ratings mean anything, that won't change this season.

Tidbits

UALR has pulled off an impressive turnaround this season. After going 4-24 and 1-15 in the Sun Belt in their only season under Sidney Moncrief, the Trojans are 17-10, 9-7 this season under first-year coach Porter Moser. ... First-year Sun Belt member New Mexico State will not participate in the Sun Belt Tournament as part of its self-imposed sanctions for NCAA rules violations. ... Despite the fact that he only played one year of high school basketball, Marcus is widely considered a future NBA lottery pick. However, Marcus insists he has every intention of returning for his senior season. ... This is the second consecutive year South Alabama has reached 20 wins but it's first time since 1996-97 that the Jags have won 20 games in the regular season.

Who's headed to the NCAA's

The Sun Belt hasn't sent more than one team to the NCAA Tournament since 1994, and with a conference ranking of 18th in the RPI, this year will be no different. Only the winner of the conference tournament will play in the NCAA Tournament, and Western Kentucky appears to be the only team with a realistic shot to play in the NIT if the Hilltoppers lose the Sun Belt Tournament.