Updated Big South tiebreaker scenarios – Saturday, February 24 – College Hoops Digest has joined forces with HOUSE ENTERPRISE

When it comes to media relations gurus, there are few — if any — better than our good friends Mark Simpson and Brandon McGinnis with the Big South. I repeatedly say how much I appreciate them, and boy, do I appreciate them right now.

Our good friend Jeremy over at Blogging The WU took a crack at deciphering the seemingly millions of seeding scenarios in the Big South — as did I — but official word came from Mark late Friday night. I would do the league a disservice to try to paraphrase, so here’s how everything could possibly shake out, in Mark’s words. Enjoy.

BIG SOUTH CONFERENCE MEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT SCENARIOS

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – Seedings for the 2018 Big South Men’s Basketball Championship will be announced either Saturday night, Feb. 24, or Sunday morning, Feb. 25, on the league’s @BigSouthSports Twitter account. Four first round byes into the quarterfinals have been clinched — UNC Asheville, Winthrop, Radford and Campbell — while the determination of the No. 1 seed, No. 2 seed and No. 3 seed may come down to the final step of the conference’s official tiebreaking procedure — updated RPI ratings through the results of all college basketball games played on Saturday, Feb. 24, which will be based on Jim Sukup’s College Basketball RPI Report (www.rpiratings.com) published Sunday morning, Feb. 25.

Below are the specific scenarios for such occurrences for RPI needs:

No. 1 seed RPI scenario – UNC Asheville and Winthrop tied at 13-5

Should UNC Asheville and Winthrop tie for first-place at 13-5, the tiebreaker procedure will reach the final step of each team’s RPI, based only on the following steps and final team record scenarios:
- Step 1 – Head-to-head (teams split the season series, 1-1)
- Step 2 – collective record vs. team(s) occupying the next highest position in the final regular-season standings on down
  - Radford at 12-6 or 11-7 (both teams split season series with RAD, 1-1)
  - Campbell, High Point, Liberty, Gardner-Webb tied at 9-9 (4-way tie)
    - Step 2-A – when arriving at another pair of tied teams while comparing records, use each team’s record against the collective tied teams as a group (prior to their own tiebreaking procedures), rather than the performance against the individual tied teams.
      - Both AVL and WU combined for 5-3 records – no advantage
  - Charleston Southern at 8-10 (both teams would have swept season series, 2-0)
  - Presbyterian at 5-13 (both teams swept season series, 2-0)
  - Longwood at 4-14 or 3-15 (both teams swept season series, 2-0)
- Step 3 – If procedures fail to establish an advantage, the team with the highest ranking in the most recent College Basketball RPI Report will be awarded the better seed.
  - The current RPI for UNC Asheville is 114 and Winthrop at 151, through games of Feb. 22.

No. 2 seed RPI scenarios – Winthrop at Radford tied at 12-6

Should Winthrop and Radford tie for second-place at 12-6, the tiebreaker procedure will reach the final step of each team’s RPI based only on the following steps and final team record scenarios:
- Step 1 – Head-to-head (teams split the season series, 1-1)
- Step 2 – collective record vs. team(s) occupying the highest position in the final regular-season standings on down
  - UNC Asheville at 13-5 — no advantage (both teams split with AVL, 1-1)
  - Campbell at 10-8 — no advantage (both teams split with CAM, 1-1)
  - Charleston Southern, High Point, Liberty, Gardner-Webb tied at 9-9 (4-way tie)
    - Step 2-A – when arriving at another pair of tied teams while comparing records, use each team’s record against the collective tied teams as a group (prior to their own tiebreaking procedures), rather than the performance against the individual tied teams.
      - Both WU and RAD combined for 5-3 records – no advantage
  - Presbyterian at 5-13 (both teams swept season series, 2-0)
  - Longwood at 3-15 (both teams swept season series, 2-0)
- Step 3 – If procedures fail to establish an advantage, the team with the highest ranking in the most recent College Basketball RPI Report will be awarded the better seed.
  - The current RPI for Radford is 134 and Winthrop at 151, through games of Feb. 22.

- Step 1 – Head-to-head (teams split the season series, 1-1)
- Step 2 – collective record vs. team(s) occupying the highest position in the final regular-season standings on down
  - UNC Asheville at 13-5 — no advantage (both teams split with AVL, 1-1)
  - Campbell, High Point, Liberty, Gardner-Webb, Charleston Southern tied at 9-9 (5-way tie)
    - Step 2-A – when arriving at another pair of tied teams while comparing records, use each team’s record against the collective tied teams as a group (prior to their own tiebreaking procedures), rather than the performance against the individual tied teams.
      - Both WU and RAD combined for 6-4 records – no advantage
  - Presbyterian at 5-13 (both teams swept season series, 2-0)
  - Longwood at 3-15 (both teams swept season series, 2-0)
    - Step 2-B – no advantage based on above
- Step 3 – If procedures fail to establish an advantage, the team with the highest ranking in the most recent College Basketball RPI Report will be awarded the better seed.
  - The current RPI for Radford is 134 and Winthrop at 151, through games of Feb. 22.

Remaining No. 1 seed Scenarios:

UNC Asheville – No. 1 seed with…

Win Saturday at Gardner-Webb for outright title at 14-4
Loss Saturday at Gardner-Webb AND coupled with Winthrop loss vs. Charleston Southern
Loss Saturday at Gardner-Webb and tied with Winthrop for first at 13-5, IF…

o Campbell finishes in sole possession of 4th-place at 10-8 —

AVL 2-0 vs. CAM, WU 1-1 vs. CAM

Winthrop – No. 1 seed with…

Win Saturday vs. Charleston Southern coupled with UNC Asheville loss at GWU to tie for first at 13-5, AND…

o High Point finishes in sole possession of 4th-place at 10-8 —

WU 2-0 vs. HPU, AVL 1-1 vs. HPU

o OR, if HPU/CAM tie for 4th-place at 10-8 and Gardner-Webb finishes in sole possession of 6th-place at 9-9 —

WU 2-0 vs. GWU, AVL 1-1 vs. GWU

Remaining No. 2 Seed Scenarios –

Winthrop – No. 2 seed with…

Win Saturday vs. Charleston Southern for sole possession of 2nd-place at 13-5
Loss Saturday vs. Charleston Southern coupled with Radford loss at Longwood
Loss Saturday vs. Charleston Southern to finish tied with Radford for second at 12-6

- Step 1 – Head-to-head (teams split the season series, 1-1)
- Step 2 – collective record vs. team(s) occupying the highest position in the final regular-season standings on down IF
  - UNC Asheville at 14-4 or 13-5 (both teams split series with AVL, 1-1)

High Point at 10-8 (WU swept series, 2-0, RAD split series, 1-1)
High Point and Campbell at 10-8 (WU 3-1 vs. CAM/HPU, RAD 2-2 vs. CAM/HPU)

Radford – No. 2 seed with…

Win Saturday at Longwood to finish tied with Winthrop for second at 12-6

- Step 1 – Head-to-head (teams split the season series, 1-1)
- Step 2 – collective record vs. team(s) occupying the highest position in the final regular-season standings on down IF
  - UNC Asheville at 14-4 or 13-5 (both teams split series, 1-1)
  - Campbell at 10-8 and Charleston Southern, High Point, Liberty at 9-9
    - (RAD 4-2 vs. CSU/HPU/LU, WU 3-3 vs. CSU/HPU/LU)
  - OR — Campbell, Charleston Southern, High Point, Liberty tied at 9-9
    - (RAD 5-3 vs. CAM/CSU/HPU/LU, WU 4-4 vs. CAM/CSU/HPU/LU)

Remaining No. 3 Seed Scenarios –

Radford – No. 3 seed with…

Loss at Longwood Saturday to finish 11-7
Both UNC Asheville and Winthrop finish 13-5 or better

Remaining School-by-School Tie Scenarios –

Campbell

No. 4 seed outright at 10-8
No. 4 seed in tie with High Point at 10-8 AND ONLY IF Asheville and Winthrop tied at 13-5

o Tiebreak is Presbyterian (CAM 2-0, HPU 1-1)

No. 4 seed if tied with High Point and Liberty at 9-9
No. 4 seed if tied with High Point, Liberty and Charleston Southern at 9-9
No. 4 seed if tied with High Point, Liberty and Gardner-Webb at 9-9
No. 4 seed if tied with High Point, Liberty, Charleston Southern and Gardner-Webb at 9-9
No. 5 seed outright at 9-9
No. 5 seed if tied with Charleston Southern at 9-9 OR Gardner-Webb at 9-9

No. 6 seed if tied with Gardner-Webb and Charleston Southern at 9-9

High Point

No. 4 seed outright at 10-8
No. 4 seed in tie with Campbell at 10-8 and Asheville is outright champion

o Tiebreak is Asheville (HPU 1-1, CAM 0-2)

No. 5 seed if tied with Campbell and Liberty at 9-9
No. 5 seed if tied with Campbell, Liberty at Charleston Southern at 9-9
No. 6 seed if tied with Liberty at 9-9
No. 6 seed if tied with Liberty and Charleston Southern at 9-9
No. 6 seed if tied with Campbell, Liberty and Gardner-Webb at 9-9
No. 6 seed if tied with Campbell, Liberty, Charleston Southern and Gardner-Webb at 9-9
No. 7 seed if tied with Liberty and Gardner-Webb at 9-9
No. 7 seed if tied with Liberty, Gardner-Webb and Charleston Southern at 9-9

Gardner-Webb

No. 5 seed if tied with Campbell and Charleston Southern at 9-9
No. 5 seed if tied with Campbell, High Point and Liberty at 9-9
No. 5 seed if tied with Campbell, High Point, Liberty and Charleston Southern at 9-9
No. 6 seed outright at 9-9
No. 6 seed if tied with Campbell at 9-9
No. 6 seed if tied with Charleston Southern at 9-9
No. 6 seed if tied with High Point and Liberty at 9-9
No. 6 seed if tied with High Point, Liberty and Charleston Southern at 9-9
No. 7 seed if tied with Charleston Southern at 8-10
No. 7 seed if tied with Charleston Southern and Liberty at 8-10
No. 8 seed outright at 8-10
No. 8 seed if tied with Liberty at 8-10

Liberty

No. 5 seed if tied with High Point at 9-9
No. 5 seed if tied with High Point and Charleston Southern at 9-9
No. 5 seed if tied with High Point and Gardner-Webb at 9-9
No. 5 seed if tied with High Point, Gardner-Webb and Charleston Southern at 9-9
No. 6 seed if tied with Campbell and High Point at 9-9
No. 6 seed if tied with Gardner-Webb and Charleston Southern at 8-10
No. 7 seed if tied with Campbell, High Point and Charleston Southern at 9-9
No. 7 seed if tied with Campbell, High Point and Gardner-Webb at 9-9
No. 7 seed if tied with Gardner-Webb at 8-10
No. 7 seed if tied with Charleston Southern at 8-10
No. 8 seed outright at 8-10
No. 8 seed if tied with Campbell, High Point, Charleston Southern and Gardner-Webb at 9-9

Charleston Southern

No. 6 seed outright at 9-9
No. 6 seed if tied with Campbell at 9-9
No. 6 seed if tied with Campbell, High Point and Liberty at 9-9
No. 7 seed if tied with Gardner-Webb at 9-9
No. 7 seed if tied with Campbell and Gardner-Webb at 9-9
No. 7 seed if tied with High Point and Liberty at 9-9
No. 7 seed if tied with Campbell, High Point, Liberty and Gardner-Webb at 9-9
No. 8 seed if tied with High Point, Liberty at Gardner-Webb at 9-9
No. 8 seed outright at 8-10
No. 8 seed if tied with Liberty at 8-10
No. 8 seed if tied with Gardner-Webb at 8-10
No. 8 seed if tied with Liberty and Gardner-Webb at 8-10

Presbyterian College

No. 9 seed outright at 5-13
No. 9 seed if tied with Longwood at 4-14 (PC swept season series, 2-0)

Longwood

No. 10 seed outright at 3-15
No. 10 seed if tied with Presbyterian at 4-14 (lost season series, 2-0)

Saturday’s #BigSouthMBB Schedule (all times Eastern and broadcasts on BigSouthSports.com, unless otherwise noted)

Charleston Southern at Winthrop, 2
High Point at Liberty, 2
Radford at Longwood, 3
UNC Asheville at Gardner-Webb, 4:30, ESPN3
Presbyterian at Campbell, 4:30