By Marty Gordon
NRVsports@ourvalley.org
The Big South Conference men’s basketball tournament swings into action this week with Radford University as the top seed, hosting games as long as they win.
Radford and Winthrop shared the Big South regular-season championship at 15-3, but the Highlanders are the No.-1 seed with the Eagles receiving the No.-2 seed. As the teams split the season series, the tie breaker was the records against teams next in the standings. Both teams split against third-place Gardner-Webb and went undefeated against fourth-place Longwood, leaving the fifth-place tie between Hampton and UNC Asheville as the determining factor. Radford had a combined 3-1 record against HU/AVL, while Winthrop posted a 2-1 mark against the two teams.
Radford is the No.-1 seed for the first time since 2009. The Highlanders also earned its second consecutive regular-season title and sixth overall. It is the fifth time in the last six seasons the highly competitive conference has finished the regular season with co-champions.
In addition, the Highlanders have secured the Big South’s automatic bid to the NIT should they not win the conference tournament.
As the No.-1 seed, Radford will host the quarterfinals and semifinals, Thursday and Friday, March 5-6, while the highest remaining seed will host the championship game on Sunday, March 8, at 1 p.m. on ESPN. Tickets for the quarterfinals and semifinals can be purchased through the Radford ticket office, and online at radfordathletics.com .
Winthrop is the No.-2 seed for the first time since 2016 after winning a share of its first regular-season crown since 2017 and a Big South-record 10th overall title. Defending Big South champion Gardner-Webb locked up the No.-3 seed with a conference record of 11-7. Longwood is the No.-4 seed following its 9-9 conference record, its highest finish since joining the Big South in 2012-13. Hampton and UNC Asheville tied for fifth at 8-10. The Hampton Pirates earned the No.-5 seed based on their season sweep of the Bulldogs.
A three-way tie for seventh-place emerged with USC Upstate, Charleston Southern and Presbyterian all finishing 7-11 in league play. The first multi-team tiebreaker of collective head-to-head records gave Upstate the No.-7 seed based on its 2-1 record against CSU/PC, with Charleston Southern receiving the No.-8 seed based on its 2-2 mark, compared to a 1-2 record for Presbyterian. High Point and Campbell tied for tenth place at 6-12. The High Point Panthers claim the No.-10 seed for their 62-57 win over the Camels on Jan. 30.
First round action began Tuesday with No.-6 UNC Asheville hosting No.-11 Campbell, No.-7 USC Upstate hosting No.-10 High Point, and No.-8 Charleston Southern hosting No.-9 Presbyterian.
The winners of Tuesday’s contest advance to Thursday’s quarterfinal round, which begin at 12 noon at the Dedmon Center with No.-2 Winthrop facing the winner of Upstate/High Point, followed by No.-3 Gardner-Webb playing the winner of Asheville/Campbell at 2 p.m. The 6:00 p.m. game will feature No.-1 Radford vs. the winner of Charleston Southern/Presbyterian, with No.-4 Longwood against No. 5 Hampton at 8 p.m.
The 2020 Hercules Tires Big South Men’s Basketball Championship will continue with the quarterfinals on Thursday, March 5, on ESPN3 and the semifinals on Friday, March 6, on ESPN+. The Championship game will be contested Sunday, March 8, live on ESPN and Westwood One Sports at 1 p.m. The Big South’s Tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.
