Saint Mary's, Texas, Georgetown, Tennessee-Chattanooga, Middle Tennessee and Florida Gulf Coast.
Each team -- either a recognizable name or one that boasts a top-100 ranking in the NCAA's Ratings Percentage Index -- has one common thread so far this season: A loss to a team from the Sun Belt Conference.
Texas-Arlington, the preseason conference favorite, has won at Texas and Saint Mary's, which is 19th in the Associated Press and coaches polls.
Georgia State won at Middle Tennessee, which boasts a No. 25 RPI ranking.
Georgia Southern beat Florida Gulf Coast, which is No. 92.
ASU knocked off Georgetown and Tennessee-Chattanooga, both in the top 90 of the RPI, in a span of four days in November on its way to a surprising 9-4 start.
As Wes Flanigan and Grant McCasland, first-year coaches at UALR and Arkansas State, respectively, prepare to lead their teams into the start of an 18-game Sun Belt schedule tonight, the 10-week grind toward March's league tournament in New Orleans might be as challenging as it has been in years.
"I don't have much historical reference," said McCasland, who was an assistant in the Big 12 for Baylor the past six seasons, "but it seems like there's consistent winning across the board. Our guys follow it and have a chance to see how good the league is going to be, and it helps everybody when we win as a league. I think it's adding some excitement."
The NCAA doesn't release a conference RPI ranking until after the season, but Kenpom.com -- a website that tracks advanced basketball statistics -- ranks the Sun Belt 14th out of 32 Division I conferences. It hasn't finished a season that high in the Kenpom ranking since 2005. Last year, the Sun Belt finished 18th.
Other websites that rank leagues have the Sun Belt in a similar spot. It's ranked 13th in the Massey rating and 14th at Warrennolan.com and CBSSports.com.
Flanigan has been impressed by the nonconference victories, but he's not dismissing anyone, especially after how the league race shook out last season.
"You saw a team in Monroe last year that came into the league and weren't great," he said about a team that lost to UALR in the tournament final last year. "But they kept getting better and better toward the end. You can never tell until you get into it."
Such a line of thinking could include his team, too. Coming off a second-round NCAA Tournament appearance, the Trojans are 9-4 with a victory over St. Bonaventure, which split the Atlantic 10 title last season. But the Trojans have also lost to Idaho, Pepperdine and Oral Roberts, all of which are 195 or worse in the RPI.
Flanigan said he's seen some positives, especially regarding defensive improvement, but that the Trojans have given away a couple of victories.
He would like to see more offensive consistency and pledged this week to involve his bench more. The Trojans have little experience beyond their five senior starters, but Flanigan said his young players' ability demands playing time.
"I haven't trusted our bench in some instances, and it's cost us," Flanigan said. "I've got to learn how to trust those guys."
UALR opens tonight at home against Louisiana-Monroe, while ASU hosts Louisiana-Lafayette. As travel partners, the teams will play the same league schedule, but not all 12 teams will.
The league moved to an 18-game schedule this year, with each team playing seven teams twice, and playing two others at home and two others on the road. The difference could be subtle, or it could affect the title race, both Flanigan and McCasland said.
For instance, UALR and ASU will play at Texas-Arlington and Texas State, but the Texas schools won't travel to Arkansas. UALR and ASU will host Georgia State and Georgia Southern, but they won't make the trip to the Georgia schools.
"It's part of it," Flanigan said. "There's positives and negatives to everybody's schedules."
McCasland said it's best to ignore the depth of the league or differences in the schedule.
"You can't do it unless your team has bought in to improving on a daily basis," he said. "You can get overwhelmed with the schedule at times, because you have to play so many teams and there are no nights off. It can be a battle. But if you have a team that believes in each other and stays together, you can put yourself in position to continue to improve."
Sports on 12/31/2016