Sun Belt Releases 2016-17 Conference Basketball Schedules

NEW ORLEANS – The Sun Belt Conference announced the 2016-17 men's and women's basketball schedules on Thursday. The conference will utilize an 18-game conference schedule with men's basketball games being played on a Saturday-Monday schedule and women's basketball games will be played on a Thursday-Saturday schedule during the 2016-17 season.

The dates of play will reverse for the 2017-18 season with the men's basketball games being played on Thursdays and Saturdays and women's basketball games being played on Saturdays and Mondays.

Troy's Sun Belt schedule begins on the road on New Year's Eve with a men's and women's game at rival South Alabama.

After two more road games for each team, the Troy women will host their Sun Belt home opener on Thursday, Jan. 12 when Texas State visits Trojan Arena. UT Arlington will then visit on Saturday, Jan. 14 for a doubleheader that will mark the Troy men's Sun Belt home opener. The Troy men will host Texas State on Monday, Jan. 16.

With the addition of Coastal Carolina to the league, and the reduction of games from 20 to 18, teams will no longer play a double round robin schedule. Troy will play seven teams twice and four teams only once. In 2016-17, Troy will not host ULM and UL Lafayette and will not travel to Appalachian State and Coastal Carolina.

For the first time since 2014 the Trojans will close the regular season at home. The Troy women will close with two marquee matchups against Arkansas State and Little Rock on Thursday, March 2 and Saturday, March 4, respectively. The final weekend of men's games will be played on Friday and Sunday with Little Rock and Arkansas State visiting Trojan Arena on March 3 and March 5, respectively

Tip times for conference games will also be announced by each institution at a later date. Troy's complete non-conference schedules will also be released at later date.

All 12 men's and women's basketball teams will travel to the 2017 Sun Belt Conference Men's and Women's Basketball Championships as the tournaments return to New Orleans and the Lakefront Arena for a fourth consecutive season.

Troy men's basketball head coach Phil Cunningham:
"Kathy Keene and the rest of the Sun Belt staff have spent a great deal of time and energy working on our scheduling issue. It's been a real challenge to address so many different needs, but it looks like they came up with a very fair and balanced model. Of course, adding Coastal Carolina to the league proved to be the most pivotal move in the entire process since it gave us an even number of teams and created a logical travel partner for Appalachian State."

Troy women's basketball head coach Chanda Rigby:
"Our conference schedule reflects the Sun Belt's commitment to place our student athlete's well being first. Much planning went into creating the travel partners and strategically scheduling games to cut down on travel time. The end result is a strong, fair schedule that allows for our players to be in class as much as possible."

"I'm excited to see next year's Sun Belt schedule. Although we did win the Sun Belt Tournament championship, we want to improve our play throughout the regular conference season next year. We are in the process of scheduling a tough non-conference schedule to prepare us for Sun Belt Conference play."

Troy Men's Basketball 2016-17 Sun Belt Schedule
Saturday, December 31	at South Alabama
Saturday, January 7	at Georgia Southern
Monday, January 9	at Georgia State
*Saturday, January 14*	*UT Arlington*
*Monday, January 16*	*Texas State*
Saturday, January 21	at Arkansas State
Monday, January 23	at Little Rock
*Saturday, January 28*	*Georgia State*
*Monday, January 30*	*Georgia Southern*
*Saturday, February 4*	*South Alabama*
Saturday, February 11	at UL Lafayette
Monday, February 13	at ULM
*Saturday, February 18*	*Coastal Carolina*
*Monday, February 20*	*Appalachian State*
Saturday, February 25	at Texas State
Monday, February 27	at UT Arlington
*Friday, March 3*	*Little Rock*
*Sunday, March 5*	*Arkansas State*

Troy Women's Basketball 2016-17 Sun Belt Schedule
Saturday, December 31	at South Alabama
Thursday, January 5	at Georgia State
Saturday, January 7	at Georgia Southern
*Thursday, January 12*	*Texas State*
*Saturday, January 14*	*UT Arlington*
Thursday, January 19	at Little Rock
Saturday, January 21	at Arkansas State
*Thursday, January 26*	*Georgia Southern*
*Saturday, January 28*	*Georgia State*
*Saturday, February 4*	*South Alabama*
Thursday, February 9	at ULM
Saturday, February 11	at UL Lafayette
*Thursday, February 16*	*Appalachian State*
*Saturday, February 18*	*Coastal Carolina*
Thursday, February 23	at UT Arlington
Saturday, February 25	at Texas State
*Thursday, March 2*	*Arkansas State*
*Saturday, March 4*	*Little Rock*

Troy University Athletics

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