Marty Gordon
The Big South Conference Tournament starts today Wednesday, Mar. 6, in High Point, N.C.
USC Upstate and Radford tied for eighth in the standings at 5-11, and the Spartans landed the No. 8 seed. The teams split the season series, and the tiebreaker was Upstate’s 1-1 record vs. first-place High Point, compared to Radford’s 0-2 mark vs. HPU. Upstate and Radford will go head-to-head in the first round at 8 p.m.
Regular-season champion High Point (13-3) is the No. 1 seed –- its first No. 1 seed in the Big South Tournament since 2015-16. Defending champion UNC Asheville (12-4) is the No. 2 seed, with Gardner-Webb finishing 11-5 for the No. 3 slot. Winthrop ended league play in fourth-place at 8-8 and will be No. 4. Longwood, Presbyterian and Charleston Southern all tied for fifth-place at 6-10.
The Lancers earned the No. 5 seed based on their 3-1 season record against PC/CSU, while Presbyterian clinched the No. 6 seed (2-2 vs. LWU/CSU) – the program’s highest-ever seeding in the Big South tournament. Charleston Southern secured the No. 7 spot (1-3 vs. LWU/PC) for the final auto-berth into the quarterfinals.
The USC Upstate-Radford winner will advance to the quarterfinals on Friday, March 8, and play No. 1 High Point. No. 4 Winthrop vs. No. 5 Longwood will follow at 2:00pm, with No. 2 UNC Asheville vs. No. 7 Charleston Southern. No. 3 Gardner-Webb vs. No. 6 Presbyterian will conclude quarterfinal day. The semifinals will be Saturday, March 9 at noon and 2 p.m., with the Championship game on Sunday, Mar. 10 scheduled for noon.
The 2024 Hercules Tires Big South Men’s Basketball Championship will be televised on ESPN+ Wednesday-through-Saturday, while Sunday’s Championship game will air live on ESPN2. The title game will also be broadcast nationally on Westwood One Sports. The Big South’s Tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.
On the women’s side, Radford University finished at 9-7 in the Big South and will be the No. 3 seed when action starts this week.
Regular-season champion High Point (14-2) is the No. 1 seed –- its second No. 1 seed in the Big South Tournament in four years and fourth time overall. HPU has secured the Big South’s automatic bid to the WNIT should the Panthers not win the tournament. USC Upstate (10-6) is the No. 2 seed — the Spartans’ highest seeding since becoming Big South members in 2018-19, followed by Radford (9-7) at No. 3. Charleston Southern, Presbyterian College and Winthrop all tied for fourth-place at 8-8. CSU earned the No. 4 seed based on its 4-0 season record against PC/WU — marking the Bucs’ highest seed since 2010 (also No. 4). Presbyterian is the No. 5 seed (2-2 vs. CSU/WU), with Winthrop landing in the No. 6 slot (0-4 vs. CSU/PC). Longwood (6-10) locked in the No. 7 seed for the final auto-berth into the quarterfinals.
Gardner-Webb finished the league slate at 5-11 for the No. 8 seed, with UNC Asheville (4-12) at No. 9. Those two teams will go head-to-head in the first round on Wednesday, March 6 at 6 p.m.
The Gardner-Webb/UNC Asheville winner will advance to the quarterfinals on Thursday, March 7, and play No. 1 High Point. No. 4 Charleston Southern vs. No. 5 Presbyterian will follow with No. 2 USC Upstate vs. No. 7 Longwood. No. 3 Radford vs. No. 6 Winthrop will conclude quarterfinal day. The semifinals will be Saturday, Mar. 9 at 6 and 8 p.m., with the Championship game on Sunday, Mar. 10 scheduled for 6 p.m.
