Media Day is on Tuesday (Oct. 17), so here’s how I think the Big South will look by the time this is all over with this season:
Regular Season Standings Prediction:
- UNC Asheville (14-2)
- Winthrop (13-3)
- Radford (11-5)
- Gardner-Webb (8-8)
- Longwood (7-9)
- USC Upstate (6-10)
- High Point (6-10)
- Charleston Southern (4-12)
- Presbyterian (3-13)
I feel like this is a very boring prediction, as it is in line (or very similar) with a few I’ve already seen, but I definitely think there are distinct tiers in the league this season. Asheville/Winthrop/Radford are in the upper tier. The Bulldogs finished in first by 4 games last season, so I think they are a pretty solid pick as the favorite this year, as they really only lost one big piece from that squad (Tajion Jones). Winthrop was plagued by injuries a year ago, and should definitely be improved, and Radford has some key pieces returning from a team that was very strong last year. I think Gardner-Webb is the best of the rest, but Longwood and Upstate will likely be right around them. I also have High Point in that tier, though they are easily the biggest wild-card in the league with the only new coach (Alan Huss) and an almost entirely new roster. And at the bottom, I struggle to see CSU or PC finding a way out of the 8/9 tournament game (unless HPU is just really bad to start the Huss era).
Big South Tournament Prediction:
First Round:
#8 CSU over #9 PC
Quarterfinals:
#1 AVL over #8 CSU
#5 LW over #5 GWU
#3 RAD over #6 UPST
#2 WU over #7 HPU
Semifinals:
#1 AVL over #5 LW
#2 WU over #3 RAD
Championship:
#2 WU over #1 AVL
Mark Prosser will make his first NCAA tournament as a head coach as the Eagles go through the tough path of beating the host squad (HPU), the team that knocked them out a year ago (RAD), and the defending champs (AVL).
Blogging the WU 