The South Atlantic Conference Announces Seeds for 2021 Men's Basketball Championship
ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – The 2020-21 South Atlantic Conference regular season came to an end on Wednesday (Feb. 24) night and with the final games the seedings for the 2021 SAC Pilot Flying J Men's Basketball Championship have been determined.
The seedings for the basketball championship are based on the final regular season winning percentage for all teams, regardless of the total number of SAC games played.
Lincoln Memorial finished with a league best 14-3 record and in doing so captured its ninth regular season championship in the last 11 years. However, in compliance with the SAC Return to Play Protocol for Basketball the Railsplitters will not be able to compete in the 2021 SAC Pilot Flying J Men's Basketball Championship.
With LMU out, Queens earns the No. 1 seed after it finished the regular season with a 13-3 record in conference. Tusculum earned the No. 2 seed with a 12-4 record, while Carson-Newman will be the No. 3 seed with an 11-5 record. All three teams will receive a bye into the SAC Pilot Flying J Men's Basketball quarterfinals.
Newberry landed at No. 4 in the bracket, as it went 9-5 on the SAC season, with Lenoir-Rhyne earning the No. 5 seed with an 8-6 SAC record. Wingate earning the No. 6 seed also with a 10-8 conference record, followed by Catawba with the No. 7 seed after an 8-10 SAC record. Anderson earns the No. 8 seed with a 6-11 record in conference, while Coker took the No. 9 seed with a 4-11 conference record. Rounding out the field is Limestone with the No. 10 seed and a 2-10 SAC record, and Mars Hill with the No. 11 seed and a 2-15 record in conference.
Like LMU, UVA Wise will be unable to compete in the 2021 SAC Pilot Flying J Men's Basketball Championship as they are adhering to the minimum outlined protocols within the SAC Return to Play Protocols for Basketball.
The 2021 SAC Pilot Flying J Men's Basketball Championship will be played at campus sites throughout the tournament with opening round action taking place on Saturday, Feb. 27, followed by quarterfinals on Monday, March 1. The semifinals will take place on Thursday, March 4, and the final will tip-off on Sunday, March 7. The SAC Pilot Flying J Tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament. The SAC Pilot Flying J Men's Basketball Championship schedule is as follows:
Saturday, February 27 (at Highest Seeds)
Game 1: #9 Coker at #8 Anderson, 4 p.m.
Game 2: #10 Limestone at #7 Catawba, 4 p.m.
Game 3: #11 Mars Hill at #6 Wingate, 2 p.m.
Monday, March 1 (at Highest Seeds)
Game 4: #5 Lenoir-Rhyne at #4 Newberry, 7 p.m.
Game 5: winner game 1 at #1 Queens, 7 p.m.
Game 6: winner game 2 at #2 Tusculum, 8 p.m.
Game 7: winner game 3 at #3 Carson-Newman, 8 p.m.
Thursday, March 4 (at Highest Seeds)
Game 8: winner game 4 vs. winner game 5, TBA
Game 9: winner game 6 vs. winner game 7, TBA
Sunday, March 7 (at Highest Seeds)
Game 10: winner game 8 vs. winner game 9, TBA
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