Wednesday will tip off the 2025 Big South Tournament from a new location. This year the tournament will be hosted at a neutral site at the Freedom Hall Civic Center in Johnson City, Tennessee. After last year’s tournament was hosted by the top seeded High Point Panthers, the tournament returns to its neutral site format, as seen in 2022 and 2023, when the tournament was held in Charlotte. All nine Big South teams will compete in this year’s tournament, let’s meet them.
The Favorite: High Point (-250) (Odds Courtesy of DraftKings)
A little bit of deja vu from my 2024 conference preview but High Point is once again favored to win the Big South and make their first ever NCAA appearance. The Panthers finished the regular season with a 14-2 conference record and have won back-to-back regular season titles for the first time since they won four straight from 2013-16. The gap between the Panthers and the rest of the conference cannot be overstated. Kenpom ranks High Point 68 spots higher than the conference’s next best team (Radford), and Bart Torvik ranks High Point 80 spots ahead of Radford. High Point is led into war by the triumvirate of Kezza Giffa (14.6 PPG, 2.5 APG), D’Maurian Williams (14.5 PPG, 3.6 RPG), and Kimani Hamilton (13.8 PPG, 4.7 RPG). While he may not be the scorer the other 3 are, Juslin Bodo Bodo is a nightmare matchup due to his ability to haul in rebounds and defend the paint. The Panthers lead the conference in adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency, offensive and defensive effective field goal percentage , offensive and defensive rebounding percentage, and offensive and defensive two point percentage.
Next Up: Winthrop (+950), Radford (+750), and UNC Asheville (+900)
Fast is the only way to describe how the Winthrop Eagles play basketball. Kenpom has Winthrop ranked 5th in adjusted tempo in the entire country. Even if its opponent is expecting the fast paced tempo, it can still prove to be difficult to defend. Winthrop is the best in the country at getting to the charity stripe, averaging 28.9 free throws per game. While this is impressive, the rate at which they convert the free throws is far from impressive. Winthrop ranks 327th in the nation in FT% at 67.1%. They have four players that average double digit points in Kelton Talford (15.8 PPG, 7.7 RPG), K.J Doucet (14 PPG, 5.5 RPG), Kasen Harrison (13.4 PPG, 3.9 APG), and lastly Nick Johnson (12.6 PPG, 3.4 RPG).
Radford has the predictive metrics to back it up heading into the tournament as both Kenpom and Torvik have Radford as the second best team in the conference. Unlike Winthrop, the Highlanders like to play slow and control the tempo of the game. Jarvis Moss (13.3 PPG, 2.6 RPG) and Brandon Maclin (10.6 PPG, 4.6 RPG) are the players to watch for the Highlanders. Both also average over a steal per game. Radford is also a team that can surprise you with its three point shooting. If the Highlanders get hot, they could make a run for a bid steal.
They say in order to be the best you have to beat the best and that’s what UNC Asheville has done this year, at least in the Big South. The Bulldogs are responsible for one of High Point’s two losses in conference play. One of the main reasons UNC Asheville finished tied for second in the conference is its ability to hold onto the basketball. They rank top 25 in the country according to Kenpom in turnover percentage. Combine that with being the best team in the country in block% it would not be surprising to see the Bulldogs make another run to the tournament final. Jordan Marsh is the leading scorer for UNC-Asheville. The 5’10” guard is averaging 18.9 points, 4.2 rebounds. Marsh ranks among the top ten in the country in usage according to KenPom. UNC-Asheville may go as far as Marsh can take them.
Dark Horses: Longwood (+1400) and Presbyterian (+3000)
Longwood won the 2024 Big South tournament last year, why are they a dark horse now? For starters, a sixth place finish in the conference does not help the Lancers out as their first round matchup is against Winthrop. The talent is there for this Longwood team, as they were projected to finish third in the conference preseason. Longwood ranks 4th in both points per game and points allowed per game so the efficiency is also there. The Lancers will look towards one of the best names in college basketball, Michael Christmas (12.2 PPG, 4.2 RPG) to try and step up to hopefully repeat as Big South champions.
Presbyterian feels more like a longshot than a dark horse looking at its odds but they are here for two reasons. Kobe Stewart (15.1 PPG) and Kory Mincy (14.9 PPG). The Blue Hose have also been playing much better ball lately as they beat Radford which started a 3 game win streak to end the season.
The Rest: Charleston Southern (+7000), Gardner Webb (+7500), and USC Upstate (+25000)
The odds reflect these team’s chances, none really have a shot at winning this tournament. However it is worth shouting out the top scorer in the conference, Taje’ Kelly, as the Charleston Southern forward averages 20.8 PPG and 8.9 RPG. Maybe if Kelly has a linsanity run of all linsanity runs in him his Buccaneers could make some noise but those odds are short. Gardner Webb and USC Upstate will tip-off the tournament Wednesday night in the No. 8 vs No. 9 game.
The Pick: High Point
Last year the competition was much tougher in the Big South. If this year isn’t High Point’s year, I do not know when it will be. The Panthers are projected to be a 13 seed if they were to win the Big South tournament, and depending on its matchup (looking at you Michigan and Maryland) could be in line for their first ever NCAA tournament win.