NEW ORLEANS – In an attempt to mitigate the potential impacts of COVID-19 on the upcoming men's basketball season, Sun Belt Conference officials announced this afternoon an updated, adjusted league schedule for the 2020-21 year.
 
All teams will still play an 18-game Sun Belt schedule; however, the 12-team league will be split into an East Division and a West Division, and those teams will only play divisional opponents on consecutive days – almost exclusively on Fridays and Saturdays – at the same venue.
 
For UT Arlington, that means the Mavericks will face each of the following teams in the West Division:
 
Texas State
ULM
Louisiana
Little Rock
Arkansas State
 
The Mavs will take on their traditional travel partner and rival Texas State twice during the season – a Thursday at UTA and two days later on a Saturday in San Marcos.
 
UTA will battle each of the other four divisional foes four times each – two at home and two on the road – and those matchups will all take place on a Friday evening (with the exception of New Year's Day) and Saturday afternoon. No Saturday games are permitted to start later than 4 p.m. Central to accommodate return travel.
 
The East Division features the following six teams, which the Mavs will not see until at least the Sun Belt Tournament:
 
South Alabama
Troy
Georgia State
Georgia Southern
Appalachian State
Coastal Carolina
 
UTA's Sun Belt regular season will commence on New Year's Day, Jan. 1, and conclude on Feb. 27 leading into the Sun Belt Tournament in Pensacola, Fla., Mar. 5-8. Due to the switch to divisional play, the format of that tournament has also been altered slightly (more information later in this release).
 
UTA's Sun Belt schedule is as follows (2019-20 overall/Sun Belt record):
 
Jan. 1 @ Little Rock (21-10, 15-5)
Jan. 2 @ Little Rock
Jan. 8 @ ULM (9-20, 5-15)
Jan. 9 @ ULM
Jan. 15 vs. Louisiana (14-19, 8-12)
Jan. 16 vs. Louisiana
Jan. 22 vs. Little Rock
Jan. 23 vs. Little Rock
Jan. 29 @ Arkansas State (16-16, 8-12)
Jan. 30 @ Arkansas State
Feb. 5 vs. ULM
Feb. 6 vs. ULM
Feb. 11 vs. Texas State (21-11, 13-7)
Feb. 13 @ Texas State
Feb. 19 @ Louisiana
Feb. 20 @ Louisiana
Feb. 26 vs. Arkansas State
Feb. 27 vs. Arkansas State

Due to the uncertainty of COVID-19, all game times and dates are subject to change. Last month, the NCAA announced that the start of the basketball season could begin no earlier than Nov. 25. UTA's non-conference schedule – like the majority of schools – is still a work in progress and is expected to be released in the coming weeks.
 
Additionally, a limited number of fans are expected to be permitted at the College Park Center for home basketball games this season. More information regarding policies and procedures for home attendance will be released in the coming weeks as well.
 
Like in the past, all home games and road Sun Belt contests will be streamed live on ESPN+ and be available for on-demand viewing.
 
As previously announced by league officials, the Sun Belt Tournament will move to Pensacola beginning in 2021 until at least 2025. Over the five-year agreement, the conference is set to return to an all 12-team format, with the top-two teams in each division receiving 1st-round byes. The 1st-round games will be cross-divisional matchups (i.e. East #3 seed plays West #6 seed).
 
The 1st- and 2nd-round games will be played simultaneously at the Pensacola Bay Center and Hartsell Arena on the campus of Pensacola State College, and semifinal and championship games contested at the Bay Center.
   
Ticket books to the Sun Belt Tournament include a ticket to each session and range in price from $30 to $75 (for children) to $100 to $250 (for adults.) Group tickets are priced at $5 per person when purchasing 10 or more tickets for locations in the upper bowl or end zone lower bowl. Individual tickets will go on sale through Pensacola Ticketmaster beginning Monday, Feb. 15. For more information, visit sunbeltsports.org.
 
For those interested, click here to view what UTA's previous Sun Belt schedule for 2020-21 originally looked like when announced earlier this month.
 
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