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2023 Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament Basics

Dates

• Friday, March 3 (first round)
• Saturday, March 4 (quarterfinals)
• Sunday, March 5 (semifinals)
• Monday, March 6 (championship)

Format

Traditional bracket

Site

For the twelfth consecutive season, the SoCon’s teams will gather in Asheville, N.C., at Harrah’s Cherokee Center, which seats a little more than 7,600. The arena hosted the relocated 2020 edition of the Maui Invitational and is now the site of the Asheville Championship tournament each November.

Participants

All 10 SoCon teams will participate.

Downloadable Bracket

Schedule

All times are p.m. Eastern.

First Round (Fri., March 3)

Game 1: (9) The Citadel (10-22, 5-13) 41, (8) Mercer 66
Game 2: (10) VMI (7-25, 2-16) 72, (7) Chattanooga 92

Quarterfinals (Sat., March 4)

Game 3: (8) Mercer (14-18, 6-12) 58, (1) Furman 73
Game 4: (5) ETSU (12-20, 8-10) 57, (4) Western Carolina 69
Game 5: (7) Chattanooga 85, (2) Samford (21-11, 15-3) 82
Game 6: (6) Wofford 67, (3) UNCG (20-12, 14-4) 66

Semifinals (Sun., March 5)

Game 7: (4) Western Carolina (18-15, 10-8) 80, (1) Furman 83 (OT)
Game 8: (7) Chattanooga 74, (6) Wofford (17-16, 8-10) 62

Championship (Mon., March 6)

Game 9: (7) Chattanooga (18-17, 7-11) 79, (1) FURMAN (27-7, 15-3) 88

Mayhem Potential Since 2011

Data originally posted by Bob Vetrone Jr. on Twitter in 2020 with my own additions for the seasons beyond.

The Southern Conference Tournament is a rarity among mid-major tourneys played at neutral sites in that the No. 1 seed has dominated recent editions. The top seed has five straight titles and seven in the last eight seasons. Considering the league’s brief period of divisional play, the top overall seed has won nine of the last 11 events. The No. 3 seed has the other two triumphs in that time, so this is a top-heavy event.

• 1 seed (8): 2012 (South), 2013 (South), 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022
• 2 seed (1): 2011 (South)
• 3 seed (2): 2014, 2017

NCAA Seeding Record Since 2011

Years with an NCAA win are in bold.

• 7 seed (1): 2019
• 12 seed (2): 2015, 2016
• 13 seed (5): 2012, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022
• 14 seed (2): 2011, 2013
• 15 seed (1): 2014

Wofford is responsible for both the SoCon’s last single-digit seed and NCAA win. The Davidson Wildcats, now in the Atlantic 10, represented the league in 2012 and 2013.

With the No. 1 seed dominating in Asheville, it shouldn’t be a surprise that the conference’s representative has avoided the 16 seed line with a 12 or 13 seed a possible outcome. Given the improved strength at the top of the SoCon, don’t be surprised if that’s where the champion should they cut down the nets. Note that ETSU could have been seeded as high as 11th had the Buccaneers been able to participate in the 2020 NCAA Tournament.

Last NCAA Tournament Appearances

Chattanooga: 2022 (13 seed, 1st Round)
UNCG: 2021 (13 seed, 1st Round)
Wofford: 2019 (7 seed, 2nd Round)
ETSU: 2017 (13 seed, 1st Round)—2020 SoCon Tournament Champions
Mercer: 2014 (14 seed, Round of 32, ASUN member)
Samford: 2000 (13 seed, 1st Round, TAAC (ASUN) member)
Western Carolina: 1996 (16 seed, 1st Round)
Furman: 1980 (10 seed, Round of 48)
VMI: 1977 (Sweet 16)

The Citadel remains the lone SoCon member—and one of the four original Division I schools—that has never reached the field. However, four teams have droughts extending back to the 20th century, including No. 1 seed Furman and 2 seed Samford.