ARLINGTON – With two regular-season games remaining for the UT Arlington men's basketball team, Sun Belt Tournament seeding and scenarios are beginning to take shape as the Mavericks prepare poised to host a postseason game next month inside the College Park Center.
 
Below is a much more detailed outline of the potential seeding breakdown, but here is the most simplified version:
 
UTA Is Locked Into A 5th-8th Seed In The Sun Belt Tournament

• UTA 7th Or 8th Seed: Host a 1st-round game on Saturday, Mar. 7, at 2 p.m.
• UTA 5th Or 6th Seed: Host a 2nd-round game on Monday, Mar. 9, at 7 p.m.

UTA – like every team seeded between 3rd and 8th – will only host one Sun Belt Tournament game. The winner of each game will advance to play on the home court of a higher seed until the semifinal round in New Orleans.
 
Tournament Bracket | Current Standings | Upcoming Schedule | Tiebreakers
 
Currently, the Mavs sit at 9-9 in the league and in sole possession of 7th place. UTA is two games ahead of 8th place which is currently occupied by Arkansas State and Coastal Carolina at 7-11 (Louisiana is 6-11 with three games remaining). UTA has guaranteed itself a top-8 finish by virtue of the fact that Coastal Carolina, Louisiana and Arkansas State all play each other to end the season, so two of those three teams will by default end up, at least, with 12 losses – a total UTA can't reach.
 
Provided UTA remains in the 7th, or falls to the 8th, position, it will host an opening-round Sun Belt Tournament game at the CPC on Saturday, Mar. 7, at 2 p.m. That would be against the 10th seed (if UTA is the 7th seed) or versus the 9th seed (if UTA is the 8th seed).
 
However, there is still a chance that UTA could finish in 5th or 6th place pending outcomes of its final two games and the teams ahead of the Mavs. UTA is just one game behind 6th place Appalachian State (10-8) and two back of a trio of teams at 11-7 (Georgia State, Georgia Southern and South Alabama). However, because of the remaining schedules of those three teams – combined with Little Rock at 13-4 and Texas State at 12-6 – the most losses any of the top-4 teams could end up with by the end of the regular season is eight  – a total UTA has already surpassed.
 
If UTA gets to a 5th or a 6th seed, then the Mavs would receive a 1st-round bye and host a 2nd-round game at the CPC on Monday, Mar. 9, at 7 p.m. (as a 5th seed versus the winner of 8/9; as a 6th seed versus the winner of 7/10).
  
The bottom-2 teams (11th and 12th place) in the Sun Belt standings do not qualify for the tournament. The top-2 teams receives byes directly to the semifinals in New Orleans on Mar. 14. Those two semifinal games and the final the next day on Mar. 15 will be contested at the NBA's Pelicans' Smoothie King Center; all other games prior to that weekend are played at the home court of the higher seed.
 
UTA has reached the Sun Belt Tournament Final each of the previous two seasons, losing in the title game both years to Georgia State.
 
Ticket information and purchase links for the Mavs' Sun Belt Tournament game will be available shortly after UTA's seed is officially confirmed, which likely won't transpire until the conclusion of its regular-season finale next Tuesday, Mar. 3, at Troy (5-13).
 
First up, however, UTA will host its first-ever regular-season nationally-televised contest this Friday, Feb. 28, when the Mavs welcome rival Texas State to the CPC for an 8 p.m. tipoff on ESPN2. The contest will also serve as Senior Night for the program.
 
PURCHASE TICKETS
Tickets for all remaining home games are available by visiting UTATickets.com, calling the UTA Box Office at (817) 272-9595 or by stopping by the College Park Center during regular business hours.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
For updates, behind-the-scenes photos, videos and more engaging and personal content, be sure to follow the men's basketball program on Twitter (@UTAMavsMBB), Instagram (@UTAMavsMBB) and Facebook (/UTAMavsMBB).