2025 Big South Conference Tournament

The 2025 Big South Conference Tournament has a new venue alert, as the tournament will be held in a neutral setting at the Freedom Hall Civic Center in Johnson City, TN. It is the home of East Tennessee State from the SoCon, but the conference is back to a neutral setting after being played at the home of top seed High Point last year.

This was a neutral-site tourney in 2022 and 2023 in Charlotte, so we’re back to that format with all nine teams in the conference in action. High Point is once again the No. 1 seed, but will not have the benefit of home court, not that it helped last year, as the Panthers lost to Longwood in the Semifinals.

 

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With just one NCAA Tournament bid available, this will be a very competitive tournament.

How to Watch the Big South Conference Tournament

When: March 5, 7-9

Where: Freedom Hall Civic Center in Johnson City, TN

Format: Top seven seeds get bye to Quarterfinals

Watch: ESPN+, TBD; Championship Game on Sunday March 9 at Noon ET

College Basketball Odds | College Basketball Betting Splits | Greg Peterson’s Daily Lines | Steve Makinen’s Power Ratings

Big South Conference Tournament Bracket

Big South Conference Tournament Seeds, Teams and Odds

1. High Point (-250)

2. UNC Asheville (+900)

3. Winthrop (+950)

4. Radford (+750)

5. Presbyterian (+3000)

6. Longwood (+1400)

7. Charleston Southern (+7000)

8. Gardner-Webb (+7500)

9. USC Upstate (+25000)

(odds from DraftKings Sportsbook accurate at time of publish)

Favorite To Win Big South Conference Tournament

High Point will look to right the wrongs of last year’s conference tournament, as the Panthers were the host and still fell short of their first NCAA Tournament berth in program history. They are back-to-back regular season champs for the first time since winning four in a row from 2013-16, but they had two CIT and two NIT appearances in that stretch.

There is no doubt that they are the best team in the conference. Bart Torvik has them 80 spots higher than second-ranked Radford. KenPom has them 69 spots higher and Haslametrics has a difference of 64 spots in his rankings. They are ranked first in the conference in adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency, eFG% offense and defense, offensive and defensive rebounding percentage, and 2P% offense and defense.

Big South Conference Tournament Darkhorse

Winthrop is probably the choice here, though +950 maybe isn’t “darkhorse” caliber. Radford is lined as the second choice, but they’ll run into High Point in the Semifinals. High Point beat the Highlanders by 18 and 3 during the regular season. The Panthers lost to Longwood by two and UNC Asheville in a 103-99 game. Longwood got blown out twice by Winthrop, though, so I think that’s a bad matchup for the Lancers in the Quarterfinals.

Winthrop would avoid High Point until the championship game and they’re a good enough offensive team to give the Panthers some trouble, even though they did lose by 22 in both regular season games. High Point was -9.5 at home on Jan. 25 and -3.5 on the road on Feb. 15, so expect them to be -7.5ish in the neutral setting given how they dominated the first two games if that’s your final, so maybe a -325 or -350 moneyline price.

Presbyterian did split with Radford during the regular season and has played very well down the stretch, but a moneyline rollover is better than +3000 given that they’d be a dog in every game and a very big dog to High Point.

Players to Watch in Big South Conference Tournament

The top scorer in the conference is Taje’ Kelly, as the Charleston Southern forward averages 20.8 PPG and 8.9 RPG, but his Buccaneers are unlikely to be a major factor in the tournament. Jordan Marsh has been called upon all season long to help UNC Asheville replace the production from Drew Pember and he’s done well with 19.2 PPG, 4.3 RPG, and 3.6 APG. Toyaz Solomon and Josh Banks are also scoring over 15 PPG for the Bulldogs.

Among the top teams, Winthrop’s terrific trio of Kelton Talford (15.8 PPG, 7.7 RPG) and K.J. Doucet (14 PPG, 5.5 RPG), and Kasen Harrison (13.4 PPG, 3.9 APG) are only rivaled by High Point’s 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).

Potential darkhorse Presbyterian also has two top-10 scorers in Kobe Stewart (15.1 PPG) and Kory Mincy (14.9 PPG). UNC Asheville and Presbyterian are the only teams with two in the top 10.

Betting Pick to Win The Big South Conference Tournament

This tournament is obviously High Point’s to lose with the odds-on favorite price and a much better statistical profile than anybody else. It also means that they are the team under the most pressure, especially after what happened last season. The -250 price is smaller than what they’d be in the title game against any opponent.

But, I do like Winthrop +950 as a starting point and then you can hedge off if they run into High Point. If Radford or Presbyterian upsets High Point, this ticket gets a lot more valuable. The Panthers probably do win, but you can do things with a Winthrop future if they can navigate the Quarters and Semis.

Pick: Winthrop +950

Makinen Power Ratings for Big South Conference

  • Favorites over 7 points or more have been very successful in the Big South tourney since 2014, going 30-5 SU and 20-15 ATS (57.1%)
  • In the quarterfinal round of the Big South tournament, teams off a first-round bye taking on teams that already played are on a 22-7 SU and 18-10-1 ATS (64.3%) run, including 13-1 SU and 12-2 ATS in last 14.

More Steve Makinen Conference Tournament Betting Trends.

Check out the other previews in our 2025 College Basketball Conference Tournament Betting Guide.

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