The best month of the year is upon us. It is March, and that means the NCAA men’s basketball tournament is just around the corner!

But, before that tournament begins, there are 32 conference tournaments that are played all over the country. The winners of these conference tournaments will automatically qualify for the “Big Dance”, and a chance to compete for a national title.

One of those automatic qualifiers will come from the Southern Conference, or SoCon. The 10-team conference features universities from the states of Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia.

The men’s SoCon tournament will take place from Friday, March 3 to Monday, March 6. All of the games will be played at Harrah’s Cherokee Center in Asheville, North Carolina.

All in all, it should be a fun tournament. Last year, Chattanooga won the tournament title on a miracle buzzer beater in overtime over Furman. The Mocs were then just seconds away from beating #4 Illinois in the first round of the NCAA tournament, but ultimately fell short.

With all of that being said, here is the favorite, the contenders, the dark horse, and my pick of who will win the 2023 Southern Conference Tournament!

The Favorite

Furman Paladins (24-7, 15-3)

After Furman had their season ended at the buzzer last season in the tournament title game, they have been out to get revenge. The Paladins captured their fifth 20-win season under six-year head coach Bob Richey and captured their first SoCon regular season title in the 21st century this season. They won that title after beating Samford, the team who will be the number 2 seed in the tournament, 93-79 on Saturday.

The “Dins” are looking to make their first trip to the NCAA tournament since 1980 and it looks like they have some key pieces to make that run. Firstly, they have SoCon Player of the Year Jalen Swansen. The fifth-year senior forward averaged 15.7 points per game along with 7.8 rebounds per game. He’s also 38% from 3-pt land, and won SoCon Defensive Player of the Year for Richey’s team last season.

But he’s not even Furman’s leading scorer. Mike Bothwell, another fifth-year senior, has scored 17.9 points per game and joined Swansen on the All-SoCon first team this year. He’s joined in the backcourt by JP Pegues, a sophomore guard who’s also averaging double digits in scoring. 

Furman’s at their best when they score points. The Paladins are 10th in the country in points per game and fifth in Division I in assists per game. They have scored 90 points in nine different games. Add on the fact that Furman has won 14 of their last 16 games and you have a team that is feeling really good about their chances to break their 40-year NCAA Tournament drought.

The Contenders

Samford Bulldogs (21-10, 15-3)

Just behind the Paladins in the SoCon standings is Samford, who has had an interesting season to say the least. After losing seven straight games to finish their non conference season, the Bulldogs rallied to finish second in the SoCon after losing the tiebreaker to Furman.

The Bulldogs boast a program-changing coach in Bucky McMillan, who helped the Bulldogs win the most games in a league season, joining the SoCon back in 2008. He also won 20 regular season games in back-to-back years at Samford; a program first. 

Samford boasts a balanced attack that returned four starters led by Ques Glover (15.5 points per game) and Logan Dye (13 points per game). The Bulldogs went 8-1 in conference play games decided by single digits, which might be something that could carry them to a conference title. After losing in the SoCon semifinals last season to Furman by just two points, the Bulldogs will be another team seeking revenge in this year’s edition of the tournament.

UNC Greensboro Spartans (20-11, 14-4)

UNC Greensboro are no strangers to winning the SoCon tournament title, having won the tournament twice in the past five years to advance to the NCAA Tournament. While the Spartans have taken a step back in the standings this year from where they would like to be, they are still very real contenders for the SoCon title. 

They are led by the SoCon Coach of the Year this season, second-year head coach Mike Jones after he helped UNCG win 14 games in the conference this season, five more than the previous season. He has built a team that relies on their defense, which statistically is the best in the conference, to push them over the line in this year’s tournament.

In that Spartan defense is SoCon’s Defensive Player of the Year Kobe Langley, who was second in the SoCon in steals and steals per game. His brother, Keyshaun, is a part of the first-team SoCon squad, as he averages 14.7 points per game. It’ll be up to the Langley brothers to lead a team through some tough offensive matchups if they want to make another trip to the Big Dance this year.

Western Carolina Catamounts (17-14, 10-8)

The surprise story in the SoCon this year has been Western Carolina, who was originally picked eighth this season in the SoCon Coaches Preseason Poll after finishing last in the conference last season. They have proved the doubters wrong and will be the four seed going into Asheville this weekend. 

WCU is one of two teams in the SoCon to have three All-SoCon selections. Iowa State transfer Tre Jackson (second team), Morehead State transfer Tyzhaun Claude (third team), and senior guard Vonterius Woolbright (second team) have stepped up to be leaders on a Catamount team that won five of their final seven games in the regular season. 

After an early exit in last year’s SoCon tournament, the Catamounts will hope to make a run to qualify for just their second NCAA tournament in school history. However, a matchup with top-seeded Furman could be on the cards in the semifinals, which will be tough for WCU to handle after losing by 34 to the Paladins in early February.

The Dark Horse

Wofford Terriers (16-15, 8-10)

The 2019 SoCon tournament champions have had a turbulent past couple of years. After that 30-win team and their head coach, Mike Young, moved on to other places, the Terriers have been in a rebuilding spot. Things didn’t get any easier this year when Young’s replacement, Jay McAuley, resigned after players reportedly told the administration they were unhappy with him.

However, the Terriers have picked up some impressive results this season, the biggest one being a five-point win at Texas A&M under interim head coach Dwight Perry. They also picked up a win against Samford, but their last three losses in the regular season have come in overtime.

They’ll need to win those sorts of games in the SoCon tournament if they want any chance of extending their season. The Terriers will key on All-SoCon First Teamer B.J Mack and the SoCon Freshman of Year Jackson Paveletzke to go on a Cinderella run. They’ll have to tap into the magic that helped them beat the Aggies in December to make it happen.

My Pick: Furman

While picking the number one seed isn’t the most exciting thing in the world and is more dangerous than ever considering the fact that upsets are happening all the time in tournaments like this, I think Furman has what it takes to win the conference title. Their experience and offensive ability is the best in the conference, and both Jaylen Swansen and Mike Bothwell have the tools to take games over if needed. 

The Dins are poised to right their wrongs after being just one shot away from the NCAA Tournament last season and put themselves in a position to maybe make their own noise in March Madness.