Big South tournament 2015: Bracket, schedule and results

A wild season in the Big South cranks up with the tournament this week.

The Big South tournament got underway on Wednesday with the first round. The tournament will run through Sunday to determine who gets an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. Given the landscape of the conference, that will likely be the only Big South team to go dancing this year.

It has been a crazy ride in the Big South. At one point in mid-February, there was an seven-team tie for first place, and the regular-season title came down to the last day. High Point -- in the driver's seat for much of the year -- had a chance to clinch the top seed against second-place Charleston Southern in the regular-season finale. However, the Panthers fell in a triple-overtime thriller, 97-93, and the Buccaneers came away with the crown. A rematch in the final round looks like the most appealing matchup, although contenders like Coastal Carolina, Radford, UNC-Asheville and Winthrop will have plenty to say about that.

The format

All 11 teams are eligible for the tournament. The top five seeds get a bye into the quarterfinals, while the bottom six teams all have to play an extra game. The winners of the first-round games go on to face the top three seeds. After that round, it becomes a standard eight-team tournament.

The teams

1. Charleston Southern Buccaneers


2. High Point Panthers


3. Coastal Carolina Chanticleers


4. Radford Highlanders


5. Winthrop Eagles


6. UNC-Asheville Bulldogs


7. Gardner-Webb Bulldogs


8. Presbyterian Blue Hose


9. Longwood Lancers


10. Campbell Fighting Camels


11. Liberty Flames

Bracket

A complete Big South downloadable bracket can be found here.

Schedule and results (all times Eastern)

Wednesday, March 4 (First round)

No. 9 Longwood 65, No. 8 Presbyterian 61

No. 7 Gardner-Webb 72, No. 10 Campbell 64

No. 6 UNC-Asheville 80, No. 11 Liberty 70

Friday, March 6 (Quarterfinals)

Game 4: No. 9 Longwood 68, No. 1 Charleston Southern 60

Game 5: No. 5 Winthrop 67, No. 4 Radford 66

Game 6: No. 7 Gardner-Webb 72, No. 2 High Point 71

Game 7: No. 3 Coastal Carolina vs. No. 6 UNC-Asheville, 8:30 p.m., ESPN3

Saturday, March 7 (Semifinals)

Game 8: No. 9 Longwood vs. No. 5 Winthrop, noon, ESPN3

Game 9: No. 7 Gardner-Webb vs. Game 7 winner, 2 p.m., ESPN3

Sunday, March 8 (Championship)

Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner, 1 p.m., ESPN2

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