The Atlantic Sun men’s conference tournament tips off on Wednesday, March 4 from Jacksonville, Fla. A conference rich in tradition, it has had four different teams receive the conference’s automatic bid into the NCAA tournament in the last four seasons. A conference full of parity will look to deliver much of the same in 2026. 

Let’s take a look at what to expect from the 12-team tournament that will span over the course of five days down on the Northeast coast of Florida.  

The Top Dogs   

Central Arkansas 

Coming off of a 9-24 season in 2024-25, the Central Arkansas Bears have had a complete rejuvenation this season, boasting a 20-11 record, and hold the No. 1 seed in the Atlantic Sun conference tournament after turning in a 15-3 conference record. All three of the Bears conference losses have come in overtime. Looking for their first ever NCAA tournament appearance the Bears have as good of a chance as ever to make that a reality this year. Central Arkansas holds both the third ranked offense and defense in the ASUN and is primarily led by its guards. A guard duo that has powered this Bears team for most of the season, Camren Hunter averages just a tick under 20 points per game while Ty Robinson averages just under 15 points per game and 5 rebounds per game. The Bears do not shoot the three particularly well, but they do rebound at a high mark, and if you give Central Arkansas a lot of second chance opportunities on the offensive side, it will take advantage of them. The Bears three conference losses have all come to teams seeded fifth or lower in the conference, they are susceptible to the upset, however, this team has been primarily dominant in the ASUN this year.

Austin Peay 

The Governors of Austin Peay hold the best overall record in the ASUN with a 21-8 mark. Two years removed from a second place finish in the ASUN tournament, falling at the hands of Stetson in the championship game, Austin Peay is looking to reach the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2016. The Governors boast the number two offense and the top defense in the league. Austin Peay is a scrappy team, leading the league in steals per game, it really likes to get out and run with the ball. This team can get into high scoring games quite often, but with its stout defense it can keep games in the 60s and 70s. It depends on the night for this team. They shoot the three well, and defend it well too. The games they have lost in conference play have all been games in the 80s and higher. If it can hold a team lower than 80 points, it will be in good shape throughout this conference tournament. The Governors can also win those shootout games too. Expect a 7-8 man rotation from this team, with it relying heavily on its starting five, especially with its two forwards Colin Parker and Rashaud Marshall who each average over double-digit points per game. Its point guards Zyree Collins and Anton Brookshire each put in around 25-30 minutes a game and are scoring threats, and look for Columbia, Mo. native Tate McCubbin out on the three-point line to knock shots down. This is a very dangerous team.  

Dark Horses 

Queens (NC)  

The Queens Royals are finally eligible for the NCAA tournament for the first time after going through the NCAA’s four-year reclassification rule following the university turning Division-I in 2022. The No. 3 seed in this tournament is being overlooked a little bit due to the lack of people knowing their name. Don’t get it twisted, this is a solid Queens squad who has the top offense in the league and shoots the ball extremely well, however, the one kicker to that statistic is they have the second-to-worst defense in the league and are susceptible to giving up point totals in the 80s, 90s and 100s. If it can figure its defensive woes out, Queens will be a certain contender to make its first NCAA tournament. 

Lipscomb

The Bisons of Lipscomb represented the ASUN in last year’s NCAA tournament as a No. 14 seed, eventually getting routed by No. 3 seeded Iowa State. This is a team who does not really struggle in one certain category, the Bisons are just hovering around slightly above average compared to everyone else in the league in most categories. Lipscomb is a team that distributes the ball at a high mark and looks for the open shot, it plays good defense and if a team struggles on a particular night it will take advantage of them. It is not a team that will knock your socks off on one side of the floor, but it plays a very clean and sound game. Any particular night, the Bisons could pull the upset. 

 My Potential Cinderella

Bellarmine 

After winning the 2022 ASUN conference tournament, the Knights were denied an NCAA tournament bid due to the NCAA’s reclassification rules, so Jacksonville State got the automatic bid that year. Very unfortunate for the Knights, and they have had no such luck since winning the tournament since  2022. However, this year I believe they have a very outside shot of knocking off a few teams and going on a little Cinderella run. Bellarmine has tallied wins against each of the top three teams in the conference this season, but it also has some pretty poor losses. Not saying Bellarmine will even win a single game in the tournament when it opens play on Wednesday against Jacksonville, but the chance is certainly there in the month of March.  

Better Luck Next Year 

Florida Gulf Coast, Eastern Kentucky, West Georgia, Jacksonville, Stetson, North Florida and North Alabama are all teams who I believe will either be first round exits or win one and then lose in the second round. These teams for me have been way too inconsistent all year on both sides of the basketball, and they haven’t shown the ability to beat the top teams in the conference while also losing too many games. Better luck next year to these seven teams. 

My Prediction 

Ultimately, when championship Sunday rolls around I believe it will be the top two seeds playing for the championship, Central Arkansas vs. Austin Peay. I predict the Austin Peay Governors will upset the Central Arkansas Bears to make their first tournament appearance in a decade. This offense impresses me, and I believe their defense will step up to the occasion and slow the Bears down tremendously. I believe Austin Peay will then be awarded a 14 or 15-seed in the NCAA tournament.