What a difference a year makes.

A year ago, there were two teams (Coastal Carolina and Troy) who won 40 games.  Both reside in the East Division of the Sun Belt.

A year ago, there were four teams in the East (Coastal, Troy, South Alabama and Georgia Southern) who had better conference records than West champion Louisiana.

This year, the roles are reversed.

With four weeks left in the regular season, there are three schools in the West (UTA, Texas State and Little Rock) that have better conference records than the team leading the East (Georgia Southern).

UTA has the best overall conference mark at 14-4.  Texas State, coming to Russo Park this weekend, is 12-6 and Little Rock is just a half step behind at 11-6.  Georgia Southern, the leader in the East, has a 10-8 league mark.

The team with the best conference record gets the #1 seed and the champion of the other division is the #2 seed.  The rest of the tournament (seeds 3-10) are decided by winning percentage, regardless of division.

With four weeks left, things could change.  But, for now, the power belongs to the West.

This weekend:  Coastal Carolina at Georgia State, South Alabama at Georgia Southern, Troy at Little Rock, Texas State at Louisiana, ULM at Arkansas State, UTA at Appalachian State.

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