Big South Conference men's basketball tournament

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.[1]

Big South Conference men's basketball tournament
Conference basketball championship
SportBasketball
ConferenceBig South Conference
Number of teams11
FormatSingle-elimination tournament
Current stadiumCampus sites (see below)
Current locationN/A
Played1986–present
Last contest2022
Current championLongwood
Most championshipsWinthrop (13)
TV partner(s)ESPN
Official websiteBig South Conference Men's Basketball
A sand sculpture during the 2015 Big South Conference men's basketball tournament held at Coastal Carolina University

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.[1] As a result, the Big South did not have an automatic qualifier to the 1995 NCAA tournament,[2] 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).[3] 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.

Results
Year Champion Score Runner-up MVP Location
1986 Charleston Southern 68–60 Augusta Ben Hinson, Charleston Southern Savannah Civic Center • Savannah, GA
1987 Charleston Southern 64–63 Campbell
1988 Winthrop 71–56 Radford John Weiss, Winthrop Winthrop Coliseum • Rock Hill, SC
1989 UNC Asheville 93–78 Campbell Milton Moore, UNC Asheville
1990 Coastal Carolina 76–73 UNC Asheville
1991 Coastal Carolina 89–54 Augusta Tony Dunkin, Coastal Carolina Civic Center of Anderson • Anderson, SC
1992 Campbell 67–53 Charleston Southern Mark Mocnik, Campbell
1993 Coastal Carolina 78–65 Winthrop Tony Dunkin, Coastal Carolina North Charleston Coliseum • North Charleston, SC
1994 Liberty 76–62 Campbell Peter Aluma, Liberty
1995 Charleston Southern 68–67 UNC Greensboro Eric Burks, Charleston Southern Vines Center • Lynchburg, VA
1996 UNC Greensboro 79–53 Liberty Scott Hartzell, UNC Greensboro
1997 Charleston Southern 64–54 Liberty Peter Aluma, Liberty
1998 Radford 63–61 UNC Asheville Kevin Robinson, Radford
1999 Winthrop 86–74 Radford Heson Groves, Winthrop Asheville Civic Center • Asheville, NC
2000 Winthrop 81–68 UNC Asheville Greg Lewis, Winthrop
2001 Winthrop 67–65 Radford Andrey Savtchenko, Radford Roanoke Civic Center • Roanoke, VA
2002 Winthrop 70–48 High Point Greg Lewis, Winthrop
2003 UNC Asheville 85–71 Radford Andre Smith, UNC Asheville Vines Center • Lynchburg, VA
2004 Liberty 89–44 High Point Danny Gathings, High Point
2005 Winthrop 68–46 Charleston Southern Torrell Martin, Winthrop Winthrop Coliseum • Rock Hill, SC
2006 Winthrop 51–50 Coastal Carolina Torrell Martin, Winthrop
2007 Winthrop 84–81 VMI Craig Bradshaw, Winthrop
2008 Winthrop 66–48 UNC Asheville Michael Jenkins, Winthrop Justice Center • Asheville, NC
2009 Radford 108–94 VMI Artsiom Parakhouski, Radford Dedmon Center • Radford, VA
2010 Winthrop 64–53 Coastal Carolina Mantoris Robinson, Winthrop Kimbel Arena • Conway, SC
2011 UNC Asheville 60–47 Coastal Carolina Matt Dickey, UNC Asheville
2012 UNC Asheville 80–64 VMI J. P. Primm, UNC Asheville Kimmel Arena • Asheville, NC
2013 Liberty 87–76 Charleston Southern Davon Marshall, Liberty HTC Center • Conway, SC
2014 Coastal Carolina 76–61 Winthrop Warren Gillis, Coastal Carolina
2015 Coastal Carolina 81–70 Winthrop Elijah Wilson, Coastal Carolina
2016 UNC Asheville 77–68 Winthrop Dwayne Sutton, UNC Asheville Pope Convocation Center • Buies Creek, NC
2017 Winthrop 76–59 Campbell Keon Johnson, Winthrop Winthrop Coliseum • Rock Hill, SC
2018 Radford 55–52 Liberty Carlik Jones, Radford Dedmon Center • Radford, VA
2019 Gardner–Webb 76–64 Radford D.J. Laster, Gardner–Webb
2020 Winthrop 76–68 Hampton Hunter Hale, Winthrop Winthrop Coliseum • Rock Hill, SC
2021 Winthrop 80–53 Campbell Chandler Vaudrin, Winthrop Winthrop Coliseum • Rock Hill, SC
2022 Longwood 79–58 Winthrop Isaiah Wilkins, Longwood Bojangles Coliseum • Charlotte, NC
2023 UNC Asheville 77–73 Campbell Drew Pember, UNC Asheville Bojangles Coliseum • Charlotte, NC

Performance By School
School Championships Years
Winthrop
13
 1988, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2017, 2020, 2021
UNC Asheville
6
 1989, 2003, 2011, 2012, 2016, 2023
Coastal Carolina[lower-alpha 1]
5
 1990, 1991, 1993, 2014, 2015
Charleston Southern
4
 1986, 1987, 1995, 1997
Liberty[lower-alpha 1]
3
 1994, 2004, 2013
Radford
3
 1998, 2009, 2018
Campbell
1
 1992
UNC Greensboro[lower-alpha 1]
1
 1996
Gardner–Webb
1
 2019
Longwood
1
 2022
TOTAL
38
Notes
  1. No longer a conference member.

See also

References
  1. ATKINSON, CHARLIE. "MAYBE BIG SOUTH HASN'T SEEN THE LAST OF CAMPBELL ONE COACH PRIVATELY QUESTIONS MOVE TO NEW LEAGUE". Greensboro News and Record. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
  2. Writer, CHARLIE ATKINSON Staff. "BY ALL ACCOUNTS, THIS SHOULD BE UNCG'S YEAR\ CHARLESTON SOUTHERN WILL CHALLENGE". Greensboro News and Record. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
  3. "Big South announces plans to have tourney at one location". CBSSports.com. June 7, 2012. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved June 9, 2012.
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