Each week during the basketball season, we will keep you up to date with what is going on around the Big South with our Power Rankings. These Power Rankings will detail each Big South team’s results from the previous week and look ahead to the coming week’s schedule.
For our inaugural Power Rankings, we are using our pre-season rankings as detailed in our Big South Basketball Preview Part III and Part IV. All opponent rankings in parenthesis are KenPom.com rankings.
South:
1. Coastal Carolina
This week:
- 11/9 vs (#76) Akron 7:30
- 11/13 @ (#74)Ole Miss 8pm
Coastal starts off with 2 tough, yet winnable matchups.
2. Charleston Southern
This week:
- 11/9 @ (#144)Charlotte 6pm
- 11/11 @ (#23)Arizona 6pm
The Buccaneers have a chance to make a statement early against Charlotte. Hope they enjoy their trip and paycheck to the desert.
3. UNC Asheville
This week:
- 11/9 vs (#209)Western Carolina 7pm
- 11/11 @ (#237)UNC Wilmington 2pm
UNCA with 2 in-state games they should win.
4. Presbyterian
This week:
- 11/12 @ (#77)Clemson 7pm
- 11/14 @ (#119)Georgia Tech 7pm
2 ACC trips, paychecks, and losses coming up for the Blue Hose.
5. Gardner-Webb
This week:
- 11/9 @ (#15)North Carolina 7pm
- 11/10 vs Covenant 7:30
- 11/14 vs (#224)Lipscomb 6pm
A good test in Lipscomb in the first week of play for Gardner-Webb.
6. Winthrop
This week:
- 11/10 vs St Andrews 4pm
- 11/13 @ (#150)Indiana State 7:05
The Pat Kelsey era begins.
North:
1. Campbell
This week:
- 11/9 vs Averett 7pm
- 11/13 vs (#255)NW State 7pm
Campbell, loaded with talent, should start 2-0.
2. Liberty
This week:
- 11/9 @ (#60) Richmond 7pm
- 11/12 vs (#228)William & Mary 7pm
- 11/14 @ (#33)Georgetown 7pm
3 tough regional games for the Flames in the opening week of play.
3. VMI
This week:
- 11/10 @ (#297)The Citadel 4pm
- 11/13 vs Central Pennsylvania 7pm
When VMI and The Citadel meet in basketball, is it considered the Military Classic of the South as well?
4. Radford
This week:
- 11/9 @ (#201)Wake Forest 7pm
- 11/12 vs Cincinnati Christian 7pm
Wake Forest is picked to finish 11th out of 12 teams in the ACC, but it’s still Radford vs the ACC.
5. High Point
This week:
- 11/9 vs (#221)UNC Greensboro 7pm
- 11/13 @ (#273)Appalachian State 7pm
2 in-state opponents to start off the season. Interested to see how Allan Chaney and John Brown fare.
6. Longwood
This week:
- 11/9 @ (#93)Marshall 7:30
Only 1 game in the opening week for Longwood.
Coastal’s first game is vs. Akron tomorrow night – not vs. Ole Miss next Tuesday.
Thanks for catching that. Simply overlooked that first matchup when putting this together. It has been updated.
Coastal eeked it out against a much better Akron team. Good win for the Big South against a superior Mid-Major team.
Asheville 3rd? Wew…they looked awful good and a lot bigger against WCU. For a team that’s relied on excellent guard play the two time defending champs have added some serious size to the roster (they start more players 6’8″ and taller than coastal has on their entire roster).