This weekend could be a glorious time for Troy basketball, with both the Trojans’ men’s and women’s teams among the top contenders in the Sun Belt Conference tournament.

Both the Troy and Troy women are the No. 3 seed for the tournament, which began Tuesday at Pensacola (Fla.) Bay Center. Thus, each received a bye to the quarterfinal round, and won’t take the court until Saturday, needing three wins to claim the championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

The Troy men (20-10) play at 8 p.m. (or thereabouts) on Saturday against one of three teams — No. 6 Appalachian State, No. 7 Texas State and No. 10 Old Dominion. The Trojans went 2-1 against those teams during the regular season, beating the Mountaineers in their lone meeting, splitting with the Bobcats and not playing the Monarchs.

Troy won its final three regular-season games, including a 70-58 victory at Southern Miss last Friday that gave the Trojans at least a share of the Sun Belt title for the first time since 2010. This is also Troy’s fourth straight 20-win season, its most in the program’s Division I era.

Troy clinched its share of the Sun Belt title on the road, so the team didn’t get to celebrate with its fans until three days later. The Trojans held a special “net-cutting” ceremony at Trojan Arena on Monday night.

“The celebration last night was great,” Troy coach Scott Cross said on Tuesday. “We put that behind us. (Championship) shirts go in the closet. We’re not going to break them out until after the season is over with.

“We want to have a one-track mind going down to Pensacola, winning three games and going to the NCAA tournament. I think our guys definitely have the right mindset right now.”

Troy guard Tayton Conerway was named Sun Belt Player of the Year on Monday. The 6-foot-3 senior from Burleson, Texas, leads the Sun Belt in steals per game (3.0) while also averaging a team-best 13.7 points and 5.1 assists per game, along with 4.3 rebounds per game.

Troy has not won the Sun Belt tournament since 2017, when it made its most-recent NCAA tournament appearance. The Trojans’ only other NCAA tournament berth came in 2003, when it was a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference.

“First of all, we want to be hunters; we don’t want to be hunted,” Cross said. “So we’re going to have the mentality that we’re going and we’re hunting them down. We’re going to have a chip on our shoulder. So that’s the mentality I want our guys to have.

“… But the majority of these guys have played in the Sun Belt tournament, so they know what to expect. we only have a couple of new guys, but they can let them know what to expect. And I definitely feel like our guys are very, very prepared.”

The Troy women (19-12) play at 2:30 p.m. Saturday against one of three teams — No. 6 Appalachian State, No. 7 Louisiana or No. 11 Marshall. The Trojans went 3-1 against those teams during the regular season, winning their lone meetings with the Mountaineers and Thundering Herd and splitting with the Ragin’ Cajuns.

Troy finished alone in the third place in the Sun Belt Conference at 13-5, well back of undefeated James Madison and two behind second-place Arkansas State. The Trojans had a chance late in the regular season to secure the second seed for the tournament, but lost to the Red Wolves at home on Jan. 30.

Troy coach Chanda Rigby said her team will have to control possession of the ball on both ends of the floor to make a run in Pensacola. The Trojans lead the nation in rebounding at 49 per game, nearly two ahead of second-place Oklahoma.

“We always start with rebounding,” Rigby said. “I do think we’re still leading the nation in rebounding, but we have not been as dominant as some of the other teams. It’s time to be completely dominant and not let anybody even come close to us in rebounding.

“… But for this particular team in this particular time, it’s also taking care of the basketball. … So we need both of those things working together. All the additional rebounds we can get, plus taking care of the ball and making sure we get a good shot every possession. I think that’s the magic ticket.”

Troy has qualified for the NCAA tournament four times in 13 seasons under Rigby, most recently in 2021. That was also the last time they won the Sun Belt tournament, having also done so in 2016 and 2017.

This year’s Troy women’s team is led by 6-foot-2 forward Zay Dyer, a first-team All-Sun Belt pick. The Atlanta native averages 13.5 points and a conference-best 10.5 rebounds, while also leading the league with 14 double-doubles.

“It’s not just the points — it’s the rebounds, it’s the blocks,” Rigby said. “There are so many facets that she’s contributing in, night-in and night-out. It’s just a luxury to have and kind of build other things around it. We were very proud she got the All-Sun Belt Team. … There were so many good players in our league this year.

“… I think it’s a proper reflection of the many, many contributions she gave to Troy women’s basketball this year.”