For the first time in three seasons, the Troy Trojans will play in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament – and they bring a toughened squad to the New Orleans event.
“They’re tough. They play extremely hard, and they can expose you,” said Jim Fox, head coach of Appalachian State, whom the Trojans face Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at Lakefront Arena.
What has strengthened the Trojans is a grueling 18-game schedule in one of the nation’s tougher mid-major conferences. The Sun Belt ranks 13 th in conference RPI, according to several sites that compute the rankings, and just barely trails the Missouri Valley Conference.