2026 Big South Conference men's basketball tournament
| 2026 Big South Conference men's basketball tournament | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Division I |
| Season | 2025–26 |
| Teams | 9 |
| Site | Freedom Hall Civic Center Johnson City, Tennessee |
| Champions | High Point (2nd title) |
| Winning coach | Flynn Clayman (1st title) |
| MVP | Terry Anderson (High Point) |
| Television | ESPN+, ESPN2 |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| High Point † | 15 | – | 1 | .938 | 31 | – | 5 | .861 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winthrop | 13 | – | 3 | .813 | 23 | – | 11 | .676 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Radford | 9 | – | 7 | .563 | 16 | – | 16 | .500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UNC Asheville | 8 | – | 8 | .500 | 15 | – | 17 | .469 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Longwood | 8 | – | 8 | .500 | 16 | – | 16 | .500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Presbyterian | 7 | – | 9 | .438 | 15 | – | 18 | .455 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Charleston Southern | 6 | – | 10 | .375 | 15 | – | 17 | .469 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| USC Upstate | 5 | – | 11 | .313 | 13 | – | 19 | .406 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gardner–Webb | 1 | – | 15 | .063 | 4 | – | 29 | .121 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2026 Big South tournament winner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2026 Big South men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament that ended the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season of the Big South Conference.[1] It was held from March 4–8 and played at the Freedom Hall Civic Center in Johnson City, Tennessee.[2][3] The tournament winner, High Point, received the conference's automatic bid to the 2026 NCAA tournament.
Seeds
All of the conference teams will compete in the tournament. The top seven teams will receive a first-round bye. Teams are seeded by record within the conference, with a tiebreaker system to seed teams with identical conference records.
The tiebreakers operate in the following order:
- Head-to-head record.
- Record against the top-ranked conference team not involved in the tie, going down the standings until the tie is broken. For this purpose, teams with the same conference record are considered collectively. If two teams were unbeaten or winless against an opponent but did not play the same number of games against that opponent, the tie is not considered broken.
| Seed | School | Conference | Overall | Tiebreaker |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | High Point | 15–1 | 27–4 | |
| 2 | Winthrop | 13–3 | 21–10 | |
| 3 | Radford | 9–7 | 16–15 | |
| 4 | UNC Asheville | 8–8 | 14–16 | 2–0 vs. Longwood |
| 5 | Longwood | 8–8 | 16–15 | 0–2 vs. UNC Asheville |
| 6 | Presbyterian | 7–9 | 14–17 | |
| 7 | Charleston Southern | 6–10 | 15–16 | |
| 8 | USC Upstate | 5–11 | 13–18 | |
| 9 | Gardner–Webb | 1–15 | 3–28 |
Schedule
| Game | Time* | Matchup | Score | Channel |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opening round - Wednesday, March 4 | ||||
| 1 | 7:30 p.m. | No. 8 USC Upstate vs No. 9 Gardner–Webb | 64–65 | ESPN+ |
| Quarterfinals - Friday March 6 | ||||
| 2 | 12:00 p.m. | No. 1 High Point vs No. 9 Gardner–Webb | 81–59 | ESPN+ |
| 3 | 2:30 p.m. | No. 2 Winthrop vs No. 7 Charleston Southern | 86–81 | |
| 4 | 6:00 p.m. | No. 4 UNC Asheville vs. No. 5 Longwood | 85–82OT | |
| 5 | 8:30 p.m. | No. 3 Radford vs No. 6 Presbyterian | 85–91OT | |
| Semifinals - Saturday, March 7 | ||||
| 6 | 12:00 p.m. | No. 1 High Point vs No. 4 UNC Asheville | 75–71 | ESPN+ |
| 7 | 2:30 p.m. | No. 2 Winthrop vs No. 6 Presbyterian | 73–71 | |
| Championship - Sunday, March 8 | ||||
| 8 | 12:00 p.m. | No. 1 High Point vs No. 2 Winthrop | 91–76 | ESPN2 |
| *Game times in ET | ||||
Bracket
| Opening round Wednesday, March 4 ESPN+ | Quarterfinals Friday, March 6 ESPN+ | Semifinals Saturday, March 7 ESPN+ | Championship Sunday, March 8 ESPN2 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | High Point | 81 | |||||||||||||||||
| 9 | Gardner–Webb | 59 | |||||||||||||||||
| 8 | USC Upstate | 64 | |||||||||||||||||
| 9 | Gardner–Webb | 65 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | High Point | 75 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | UNC Asheville | 71 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | UNC Asheville | 85* | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Longwood | 82 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | High Point | 91 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Winthrop | 76 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Winthrop | 86 | |||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Charleston Southern | 81 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Winthrop | 73 | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Presbyterian | 71 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Radford | 85 | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Presbyterian | 91* | |||||||||||||||||
Source:[4]
* denotes overtime period
Awards and Honors
All-Tournament Team
| Player | Team |
|---|---|
| Terry Anderson | High Point |
| Rob Martin | |
| Scotty Washington | |
| Logan Duncomb | Winthrop |
| Kody Clouet | |
| Toyaz Solomon | UNC Asheville |
MVP in bold
Source:[5]
References
- ^ "2026 Air Force Reserve Big South Basketball Championships - Big South Conference". bigsouthsports.com. Retrieved December 19, 2025.
- ^ "Johnson City, Tennessee Selected as Host Site of 2025 and 2026 Basketball Championships". bigsouthsports.com. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
- ^ Lee, Murray. "Johnson City looking forward to welcoming back Big South basketball championships". WJHL.
- ^ "2026 Air Force Reserve Men's Basketball Championship Bracket (PDF) - Big South Conference" (PDF). bigsouthsports.com. Retrieved December 19, 2025.
- ^ "#1 High Point Wins 2026 Air Force Reserve Big South Men's Basketball Championship". bigsouthsports.com. Retrieved March 16, 2026.