Seedings, Pairings for 2021 Hercules Tires Men's Basketball Championship Announced
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – The seedings and pairings for the upcoming Hercules Tires Big South Conference Men’s Basketball Championship have been determined following the conclusion of the conference’s regular-season schedule this evening. For this season only, seedings were determined by a Conference-developed Ranking Index Formula with league winning percentage weighted at 75 percent and the percent of conference games played at 25 percent to address partial team schedules not played to due COVID pauses.
BRACKET
Defending Champion Winthrop captured the outright Big South regular-season championship at 17-1 (.9330 Ranking Index), and is the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament for the first time since 2017. Radford is the No. 2 seed after finishing with a 12-6 Big South record (.72525), followed by Campbell (11-6, .69775) at No. 3. UNC Asheville’s .65725 Ranking Index for its 9-5 Big South record earned the Bulldogs the No. 4 seed above Longwood and Gardner-Webb, who tied for fifth-place in the league standings at 10-10 for a .62500 rating. Longwood received the No. 5 seed based on its 2-0 series sweep of GWU.
Following the sixth-seeded Runnin’ Bulldogs is Hampton (9-9 Big South) and its .60000 Rankings Index for the No. 7 seed. High Point earned the No. 8 seed with its 6-11 league record (.47725). USC Upstate is the No. 9 seed at 5-11 (.43475), and Presbyterian College is No. 10 (5-12, .43300). Charleston Southern (2-15 Big South record) would have been the No. 11 seed, but will not compete in the tournament due to a COVID pause.
First round action begins Saturday, Feb. 27 with No. 7 Hampton hosting No. 10 Presbyterian, and No. 8 High Point hosting No. 9 USC Upstate. The winners of each contest advances to Monday’s quarterfinal round, which begin at 6:00pm with No. 1 Winthrop facing the winner of High Point/USC Upstate, and No. 2 Radford hosting the winner of Hampton/Presbyterian. At 7:00pm, No. 3 Campbell hosts No. 6 Gardner-Webb, and No. 4 UNC Asheville welcomes No. 5 Longwood. The semifinals are scheduled for Thursday, March 4 at the home site of the higher seed, with the highest remaining seed hosting the Championship game on Sunday, March 7. Contingency plans to complete the tournament are in place and will be implemented as appropriate.
The 2021 Hercules Tires Big South Men’s Basketball Championship first round games on Feb. 27 will be broadcast live on ESPN3, as will the quarterfinals on Monday, March 1. The semifinals on Thursday, March 4 will air on ESPN+, while the Championship game on Sunday, March 7 will be televised live on ESPN and broadcast on Westwood One Sports at 12:00pm. The Big South’s Tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. The Conference Championship schedule is as follows:
First Round – Saturday, Feb. 27 – ESPN3
#10 Presbyterian at #7 Hampton, 2:00pm
#9 USC Upstate at #8 High Point, 4:00pm
Quarterfinals – Monday, March 1 – ESPN3
#8/9 winner at #1 Winthrop, 6:00pm
#5 Longwood at #4 UNC Asheville, 7:00pm
#7/10 winner at #2 Radford, 6:00pm
#6 Gardner-Webb at #3 Campbell, 7:00pm
Semifinals - Thursday, March 4 – ESPN+
Semifinal Game 1 – 6:00pm (higher seeded host team)
Semifinal Game 2 – 7:00pm
Championship - Sunday, March 7 – ESPN
at highest remaining seed, 12:00pm
Game times subject to change