Winthrop Voted 2016-17 Men's Basketball Preseason Favorite
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – Winthrop University’s men’s basketball program has been unanimously chosen as the favorite in the Big South Conference’s annual preseason poll for the 2016-17 season. The announcement was made today at the Embassy Suites Hotel and Convention Center in Concord, N.C., as part of the league’s 2016-17 Basketball Tip-Off Media Luncheon.
Winthrop, last year’s co-regular-season champion, is the preseason favorite for the first time since 2008-09. The Eagles were a unanimous selection from the 30-voter panel -- the league’s first unanimous preseason pick since Winthrop in 2006-07, and return three starters and 12 letterwinners from last year’s 23-win squad that reached the Big South title game for the third straight year. Liberty was second in the voting with 236 points for its highest preseason ranking since 2003-04, while defending champion UNC Asheville was third in the poll with 227 points.
Gardner-Webb was fourth in the poll with 218 points, with High Point in the fifth spot with 182 points. Radford collected 128 points for sixth, ahead of Charleston Southern (121 points - 7th), Campbell (101 points - 8th) and Longwood (82 points - 9th). Presbyterian College rounds out the men’s poll in 10th place with 55 points.
Big South basketball tips off Friday, Nov. 11 with six men’s games. The first conference date is Thursday, Dec. 29, and the season culminates with the 2017 Big South Basketball Championship Feb. 28-March 5.
| Rk |
School (first-place votes) |
Points |
| 1. |
Winthrop (30) |
300 |
| 2. |
Liberty |
236 |
| 3. |
UNC Asheville |
227 |
| 4. |
Gardner-Webb |
218 |
| 5. |
High Point |
182 |
| 6. |
Radford |
128 |
| 7. |
Charleston Southern |
121 |
| 8. |
Campbell |
101 |
| 9. |
Longwood |
82 |
| 10. |
Presbyterian College |
55 |
Note: points are based on a weighted system. First-place votes received 10 points, followed by 9 points for second-place, and so on.