2026 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament

Not to be confused with 2026 Southland Conference men's basketball tournament.

2026 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season2025–26
Teams10
SiteHarrah's Cherokee Center
Asheville, North Carolina
ChampionsFurman (8th title)
Winning coachBob Richey (2nd title)
MVPAlex Wilkins (Furman)
TelevisionESPN+
2025–26 Southern Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
East Tennessee State 13 – 5   .722 23 – 11   .676
Wofford 11 – 7   .611 19 – 13   .594
Samford 11 – 7   .611 18 – 14   .563
Mercer 11 – 7   .611 19 – 13   .594
Western Carolina 10 – 8   .556 15 – 16   .484
Furman † 10 – 8   .556 22 – 13   .629
UNC Greensboro 9 – 9   .500 15 – 19   .441
Chattanooga 7 – 11   .389 13 – 19   .406
The Citadel 7 – 11   .389 11 – 22   .333
VMI 1 – 17   .056 6 – 26   .188
† 2026 SoCon tournament winner

The 2026 Southern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the Southern Conference for the 2025–26 season. All tournament games were played at the Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville, North Carolina, from March 6–9, 2026.[1][2] The winner of the tournament, Furman, received the conference's automatic bid to the 2026 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament.

Seeds

All ten teams in the Southern Conference were eligible to compete in the conference tournament. Teams were seeded by record within the conference, with a tiebreaker system to seed teams with identical conference records.[3][4] The top six teams received first-round byes.

Seed School Conference Tiebreaker 1 Tiebreaker 2
1 East Tennessee State 13–5
2 Wofford 11–7 2–0 vs. Western Carolina 1–1 vs. Furman
3 Samford 11–7 2–0 vs. Western Carolina 0–2 vs. Furman
4 Mercer 11–7 1–1 vs. Western Carolina
5 Western Carolina 10–8 2–0 vs. Furman
6 Furman 10–8 0–2 vs. Western Carolina
7 UNC Greensboro 9–9
8 Chattanooga 7–11 1–1 vs. Samford
9 The Citadel 7–11 0–2 vs. Samford
10 VMI 1–17

Schedule and results

Game Time Matchup[5] Score Television
First round – Friday, March 6
1 5:00 p.m. No. 8 Chattanooga vs. No. 9 The Citadel 85−88 ESPN+
2 7:30 p.m. No. 7 UNC Greensboro vs. No. 10 VMI 84−70
Quarterfinals – Saturday, March 7
3 12:00 p.m. No. 1 East Tennessee State vs. No. 9 The Citadel 83−76 ESPN+
4 2:30 p.m. No. 2 Wofford vs. No. 7 UNC Greensboro 72−75
5 6:00 p.m. No. 3 Samford vs. No. 6 Furman 81−86
6 8:30 p.m. No. 4 Mercer vs. No. 5 Western Carolina 73−77
Semifinals – Sunday, March 8
7 4:00 p.m. No. 1 East Tennessee State vs. No. 5 Western Carolina 69−67 ESPNU
8 6:30 p.m. No. 7 UNC Greensboro vs No. 6 Furman 75−81
Final – Monday, March 9
9 7:00 p.m. No. 1 East Tennessee State vs. No. 6 Furman 61−76 ESPN
Game times in Eastern Time. Rankings denote tournament seed.

Bracket

First round
March 6
ESPN+ 		Quarterfinals
March 7
ESPN+ 		Semifinals
March 8
ESPNU 		Championship
March 9
ESPN
            
1 East Tennessee State 83
9 The Citadel 76
8 Chattanooga 85
9 The Citadel 88
1 East Tennessee State 69
5 Western Carolina 67
4 Mercer 73
5 Western Carolina 77
1 East Tennessee State 61
6 Furman 76
2 Wofford 72
7 UNC Greensboro 75
7 UNC Greensboro 84
10 VMI 70
7 UNC Greensboro 75
6 Furman 81
3 Samford 81
6 Furman 86

Game times are in Eastern Time.
Rankings denote tournament seed.
"OT" superscript denotes games that went into overtime.
Source: Southern Conference[2]

Awards and honors

2026 SoCon Men's Basketball All-Tournament Teams[6]
First Team Second Team

Blake Barkley – East Tennessee State
Brian Taylor II – East Tennessee State
Cooper Bowser – Furman
Alex Wilkins – Furman
Justin Neely – UNC Greensboro

Sola Adebisi – The Citadel
Jaylen Smith – East Tennessee State
Tom House – Furman
KJ Younger – UNC Greensboro
Jadin Booth – Samford

MVP in bold

See also

References

  1. ^ Stockett, Marisa Sardonia & Rian (November 19, 2025). "Asheville secures extension to host SoCon basketball championships through 2035". WLOS. Retrieved December 23, 2025.
  2. ^ a b "2026 Ingles SoCon Basketball Championships". Retrieved February 28, 2026.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference MBBStandings was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Tie-Breaking Formulas for Basketball" (PDF). Southern Conference. Retrieved February 28, 2026.
  5. ^ "2026 Ingles SoCon Basketball Championships". Southern Conference. Retrieved December 23, 2025.
  6. ^ "No. 6 Furman wins the SoCon Tournament title". Southern Conference. Retrieved March 16, 2026.
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