The Big South Conference men's basketball tournament (popularly known as the Big South tournament) is the conference championship tournament in basketball for the Big South Conference. The tournament has been held every year since 1986. It is a single-elimination tournament and seeding is based on regular season records. The winner, declared conference champion, receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA men's basketball tournament. However, the conference did not have an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament from 1986 to 1990, and in 1995.

Before the 1994-95 season, Campbell departed the Big South due to scheduling conflicts. This left the conference with just five teams having played at the Division I level for at least five years, short of the six such members required by the NCAA for a conference to receive an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. As a result, the Big South did not have an automatic qualifier to the 1995 NCAA tournament, its first time without an auto-bid since 1990; it regained an auto-bid in 1996 and has maintained an auto-bid in every year since, as of 2021.

From 2003 through 2012, the tournament was held mostly at campus sites. In 2003, the semifinals and finals were held at a predetermined site. After that, depending on the year, either the final, or both the semifinals and final, were hosted by the team that won the regular-season title. In 2012, the regular-season champion hosted the quarterfinals as well. Starting in 2013, the tournament was held at a single site for the first time since 2002, specifically Coastal Carolina's new HTC Center (known at the time of announcement as the Student Recreation and Convocation Center). The tournament remained at that venue until Coastal announced its 2016 departure for the Sun Belt Conference; the 2016 edition was held at the Pope Convocation Center on the campus of Campbell University. Beginning in 2017, the format changed yet again; the first round is now held at campus sites, with the quarterfinals and semifinals hosted by the regular-season winner and the final by the top surviving seed.

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Results Year Champion Score Runner-up Tournament MVP Location1986Charleston Southern68–60Augusta StateBen Hinson, Charleston SouthernSavannah Civic Center • Savannah, GA1987Charleston Southern64–63Campbell1988Winthrop71–56RadfordJohn Weiss, WinthropWinthrop Coliseum • Rock Hill, SC1989UNC Asheville93–78CampbellMilton Moore, UNC Asheville1990Coastal Carolina76–73UNC Asheville1991Coastal Carolina89–54Augusta StateTony Dunkin, Coastal CarolinaCivic Center of Anderson • Anderson, SC1992Campbell67–53Charleston SouthernMark Mocnik, Campbell1993Coastal Carolina78–65WinthropTony Dunkin, Coastal CarolinaNorth Charleston Coliseum • North Charleston, SC1994Liberty76–62CampbellPeter Aluma, Liberty1995Charleston Southern68–67UNC GreensboroEric Burks, Charleston SouthernVines Center • Lynchburg, VA1996UNC Greensboro79–53LibertyScott Hartzell, UNC Greensboro1997Charleston Southern64–54LibertyPeter Aluma, Liberty1998Radford63–61UNC AshevilleKevin Robinson, Radford1999Winthrop86–74RadfordHeson Groves, WinthropAsheville Civic Center • Asheville, NC2000Winthrop81–68UNC AshevilleGreg Lewis, Winthrop2001Winthrop67–65RadfordAndrey Savtchenko, RadfordRoanoke Civic Center • Roanoke, VA2002Winthrop70–48High PointGreg Lewis, Winthrop2003UNC Asheville85–71RadfordAndre Smith, UNC AshevilleVines Center • Lynchburg, VA2004Liberty89–44High PointDanny Gathings, High Point2005Winthrop68–46Charleston SouthernTorrell Martin, WinthropWinthrop Coliseum • Rock Hill, SC2006Winthrop51–50Coastal CarolinaTorrell Martin, Winthrop2007Winthrop84–81VMICraig Bradshaw, Winthrop2008Winthrop66–48UNC AshevilleMichael Jenkins, WinthropJustice Center • Asheville, NC2009Radford108–94VMIArtsiom Parakhouski, RadfordDedmon Center • Radford, VA2010Winthrop64–53Coastal CarolinaMantoris Robinson, WinthropKimbel Arena • Conway, SC2011UNC Asheville60–47Coastal CarolinaMatt Dickey, UNC Asheville2012UNC Asheville80–64VMIJ. P. Primm, UNC AshevilleKimmel Arena • Asheville, NC2013Liberty87–76Charleston SouthernDavon Marshall, LibertyHTC Center • Conway, SC2014Coastal Carolina76–61WinthropWarren Gillis, Coastal Carolina2015Coastal Carolina81–70WinthropElijah Wilson, Coastal Carolina2016UNC Asheville77–68WinthropDwayne Sutton, UNC AshevillePope Convocation Center • Buies Creek, NC2017Winthrop76–59CampbellKeon Johnson, WinthropWinthrop Coliseum • Rock Hill, SC2018Radford55–52LibertyCarlik Jones, RadfordDedmon Center • Radford, VA2019Gardner–Webb76–64RadfordD. J. Laster, Gardner–Webb2020Winthrop76–68HamptonHunter Hale, Winthrop Winthrop Coliseum • Rock Hill, SC2021Winthrop80–53CampbellChandler Vaudrin, Winthrop2022Longwood79–58WinthropIsaiah Wilkins, Longwood Bojangles Coliseum • Charlotte, NC2023UNC Asheville77–73CampbellDrew Pember, UNC Asheville 2024Longwood85–59UNC AshevilleWalyn Napper, Longwood Qubein Center • High Point, NC2025High Point81–69WinthropBobby Pettiford, High PointFreedom Hall Civic Center • Johnson City, TN2026High Point91–76WinthropTerry Anderson, High Point

Performance By School School Championships Championship Years Winthrop 1988, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2017, 2020, 2021 UNC Asheville 1989, 2003, 2011, 2012, 2016, 2023 Coastal Carolina 1990, 1991, 1993, 2014, 2015 Charleston Southern 1986, 1987, 1995, 1997 Radford 1998, 2009, 2018 Liberty 1994, 2004, 2013 High Point 2025, 2026 Longwood 2022, 2024 Gardner–Webb 2019 UNC Greensboro 1996 Campbell 1992 TOTAL

Notes

NCAA Tournament appearances Year Big South Team Opponent Result 1991 (15) Coastal Carolina (2) Indiana L 69–79 1992 (16) Campbell (1) Duke L 56–82 1993 (16) Coastal Carolina (1) Michigan L 53–84 1994 (16) Liberty (1) North Carolina L 51–71 1995 No automatic qualifier 1996 (15) UNC Greensboro (2) Cincinnati L 61–66 1997 (15) Charleston Southern (2) UCLA L 75–109 1998 (16) Radford (1) Duke L 63–99 1999 (16) Winthrop (1) Auburn L 41–80 2000 (14) Winthrop (3) Oklahoma L 50–74 2001 (16) Winthrop (16) Northwestern State L 67–71 2002 (16) Winthrop (1) Duke L 37–84 2003 (16a) UNC Asheville (16b) Texas Southern(1) Texas W 92–84OTL 61–82 2004 (16) Liberty (1) Saint Joseph's L 63–82 2005 (14) Winthrop (3) Gonzaga L 64–74 2006 (15) Winthrop (2) Tennessee L 61–63 2007 (11) Winthrop (6) Notre Dame(3) Oregon W 74–64L 61–75 2008 (13) Winthrop (4) Washington State L 40–71 2009 (16) Radford (1) North Carolina L 58–101 2010 (16b) Winthrop (16a) Arkansas-Pine Bluff L 44–61 2011 (16) UNC Asheville (16) Arkansas–Little Rock(1) Pittsburgh W 81–77OTL 51–74 2012 (16) UNC Asheville (1) Syracuse L 65–72 2013 (16) Liberty (16) North Carolina A&T L 72–73 2014 (16) Coastal Carolina (1) Virginia L 59–70 2015 (16) Coastal Carolina (1) Wisconsin L 72–86 2016 (15) UNC Asheville (2) Villanova L 56–86 2017 (13) Winthrop (4) Butler L 64–76 2018 (16) Radford (16) LIU Brooklyn(1) Villanova W 71–61L 61–87 2019 (16) Gardner–Webb (1) Virginia L 56–71 2021 (12) Winthrop (5) Villanova L 63–73 2022 (14) Longwood (3) Tennessee L 56–88 2023 (15) UNC Asheville (2) UCLA L 53–86 2024 (16) Longwood (1) Houston L 46–86 2025 (13) High Point (4) Purdue L 63–75 2026 (12) High Point (5) Wisconsin(4) Arkansas W 83–82L 88–94 2020 NCAA tournament was canceled due to COVID-19.

See also Big South Conference women's basketball tournament

References

Big South Basketball Media Guide 2007

External links