After a weekend sojourn in a “challenge” series vs. the MAC, the Sun Belt returns to conference play in basketball this week.

There are three weeks left in the regular season, and each team has six Sun Belt games left before the conference tournament begins during the first week of March. The standings are particularly jumbled, with one team alone in first by a game over five teams that are tied for second, and another just a game back.

The Sun Belt’s unusual tournament set-up and its likely status as a one-bid league for the NCAA tournament means finishing as high as possible in the regular season is at a premium. The top two seeds get byes to the conference-tournament semifinals, while the top four go all the way to the quarterfinals; no higher-seeded team will face a lower-seeded team that didn’t play the previous day.

Here are how things stand among the seven Sun Belt men’s basketball contenders as we head into the final three weeks of the regular season:

Arkansas State (9-3)

Remaining home games: Southern Miss (2/12), Troy (2/15), South Alabama (2/19), Louisiana-Monroe (2/22)

Remaining road games: Louisiana (2/26), Louisiana-Monroe (2/28)

Has tiebreaker on: Troy (1-0), Appalachian State (1-0), Old Dominion (1-0)

Loses tiebreaker to: South Alabama (0-1), Marshall (0-1), James Madison (0-1)

Note: The Red Wolves are not only a game up in the standings, they have home games remaining against fellow contenders Troy and South Alabama. In fact, Arkansas State plays its next four in Jonesboro.

South Alabama (8-4)

Remaining home games: Marshall (2/13), Texas State (2/15), Louisiana (2-28)

Remaining road games: Arkansas State (2/19), Texas State (2/22), Southern Miss (2/26)

Has tiebreaker on: Arkansas State (1-0), James Madison (1-0)

Loses tiebreaker to: Old Dominion (0-1)

Note: The Jaguars split with Troy and do not play Appalachian State, but their win over Arkansas State could come into play as a second-place tiebreaker if the Red Wolves finish first.

Appalachian State (8-4)

Remaining home games: Georgia Southern (2/20), Marshall (2/22)

Remaining road games: Coastal Carolina (2/13), Georgia State (2/15), Georgia Southern (2/25), Marshall (2/28)

Has tiebreaker on: James Madison (2-0)

Loses tiebreaker to: Arkansas State (0-1), Troy (0-1)

The Mountaineers split with Old Dominion and do not play South Alabama, but have two games remaining against fellow contender Marshall. The sweep of JMU could loom large.

Troy (8-4)

Remaining home games: Louisiana (2/20), Coastal Carolina (2/22)

Remaining road games: Louisiana (2/12), Arkansas State (2/15), Texas State (2/25), Southern Miss (2/28)

Has tiebreaker on: Marshall (1-0), App State (1-0)

Loses tiebreaker to: Arkansas State (0-1), James Madison (0-1)

The Trojans split with South Alabama and do not play Old Dominion, and have four of their final six on the road. The wins over Marshall and App State are nice to have in their pocket.

James Madison (8-4)

Remaining home games: Georgia State (2/20), Georgia Southern (2/22)

Remaining road games: Georgia Southern (2/13), Coastal Carolina (2/15), Louisiana-Monroe (2/25), Texas State (2/28)

Has tiebreaker on: Troy (1-0), Old Dominion (2-0), Arkansas State (1-0)

Loses tiebreaker to: App State (0-2), South Alabama (0-1)

The Dukes split with Marshall, and don’t play any of the other contenders down the stretch. JMU would be in very good shape for the 2-seed if it wins out and Arkansas State does as well.

Marshall (8-4)

Remaining home games: Old Dominion (2/25), Appalachian State (2/28)

Remaining road games: South Alabama (2/13), Louisiana (2/15), Old Dominion (2/20), Appalachian State (2/22)

Has tiebreaker on: Arkansas State (1-0)

Loses tiebreaker to: Troy (0-1)

The Thundering Herd’s “resume” is as incomplete as any of the teams on this list, with five of its final six games against fellow contenders. Marshall split with James Madison, and also has a big win over first-place Arkansas State in-hand.

Old Dominion (7-5)

Remaining home games: Marshall (2/20), Georgia State (2/20),

Remaining road games: Georgia State (2/13), Georgia Southern (2/15), Marshall (2/20), Coastal Carolina (2/28)

Has tiebreaker on: South Alabama (1-0)

Loses tiebreaker to: Arkansas State (0-1), James Madison (0-2)

Being a game out of second and two games out of first, the Monarchs have a lot of ground to make up. They split with App State and do not play Troy, which doesn’t help their tiebreaker status.

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This week’s schedule

(All times Central; all games on ESPN+ unless noted)

Wednesday, Feb. 12

Southern Miss at Arkansas State, 7:30 p.m.

Troy at Louisiana, 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, Feb. 13

Appalachian State at Coastal Carolina, 6 p.m.

Old Dominion at Georgia State, 6 p.m.

James Madison at Georgia Southern, 6 p.m.

Texas State at Louisiana-Monroe, 6:30 p.m.

Marshall at South Alabama, 7 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 15

Appalachian State at Georgia State, 1 p.m.

James Madison at Coastal Carolina, 1 p.m.

Southern Miss at Louisiana-Monroe, 2 p.m.

Texas State at South Alabama, 3 p.m.

Old Dominion at Georgia Southern, 3 p.m.

Troy at Arkansas State, 7 p.m., ESPN2

Marshall at Louisiana, 7 p.m.