| Big South Conference men's basketball tournament | |
| Optional Subheader: | Conference basketball championship |
| Sport: | Basketball |
| Conference: | Big South Conference |
| Number Of Teams: | 9 |
| Format: | Single-elimination tournament |
| Current Stadium: | Campus sites (see below) |
| Current Location: | N/A |
| Years: | 1986–present |
| Most Recent: | 2024 |
| Current Champion: | Longwood |
| Most Championships: | Winthrop (13) |
| Television: | ESPN |
| Website: | Big South Conference Men's Basketball |
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]
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,[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.
__TOC__
| 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 | ||
| 2022 | Longwood | 79–58 | Winthrop | Isaiah Wilkins, Longwood | Bojangles Coliseum • Charlotte, NC | |
| 2023 | UNC Asheville | 77–73 | Campbell | Drew Pember, UNC Asheville | ||
| 2024 | Longwood | 85–59 | UNC Asheville | Walyn Napper, Longwood | Qubein Center • High Point, NC |
| School | Championships | 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 | |
| Liberty | 1994, 2004, 2013 | |
| Radford | 1998, 2009, 2018 | |
| Longwood | 2022, 2024 | |
| Campbell | 1992 | |
| UNC Greensboro | 1996 | |
| Gardner–Webb | 2019 | |
| TOTAL |