Big South, Winthrop, in for a wild Saturday

There are several situations that could happen Saturday in which Winthrop men’s basketball claims the No. 1 seed and home court advantage for the Big South tournament.

None of those matter if the Eagles don’t polish off one of the worst college basketball teams in the country Saturday afternoon.

While Liberty and UNC Asheville - the other two teams tied for first place with Winthrop - battle in the North Carolina mountains, the Eagles take on Presbyterian in Clinton, S.C. The Blue Hose have beaten one Division I team since Nov. 22 - Longwood, which has a 14-game losing streak and is 6-22 - and are ranked 349th out of the country’s 351 teams by KenPom.com, and 346th in the NCAA RPI.

Doesn’t matter to Pat Kelsey.

“Coach (Gregg) Nibert’s teams are freaking nasty, in a good way,” Winthrop’s coach said after Friday’s practice. “They play hard, they execute, they’re gonna run their stuff. I have such respect for him and I know how hard it is to go down there and win that that’s all my attention. I didn’t watch a second of that game last night. I’m worried about PC at 4:30.”

“That game” Kelsey referenced was Gardner-Webb’s win over UNC Asheville Thursday night that threw the Big South’s final round of games into chaos. None of the three teams tied for first place control their own destiny, one of the quirks of an unusual situation.

“It sounds like you’ve given it a lot of thought and now that you’ve posed it to me that does sound unique,” Kelsey said to a reporter. “All Asheville can control is how they play and whether they win, all Liberty can control is how hard they play and whether they win, and that’s all we can control. Everything else is gonna play itself out.”

As senior Joshua Davenport said after Thursday’s home win over Charleston Southern, approaching games with a pro mentality has been a strong-suit of Winthrop’s, in large part because of the team’s experience. That trait will be beneficial Saturday on a day when beating Presbyterian is the only result the Eagles can impact.

“How the mathematics and the 86,000 tie-breakers work out...,” said Kelsey, shaking his head.

Staying focused hasn’t been the easiest, for Kelsey especially. His cell phone steadily buzzed after Gardner-Webb’s mild upset of Asheville, with friends and family asking about the Big South’s tie-breaker scenarios.

“I have so many I’m close to that love me, that love this program, that care about us that have reached out,” he said. “I am worried about one thing, PC.”

Kelsey’s dad, Mike, who is in town for the stretch run, was watching the Runnin’ Bulldogs’ win over Asheville Thursday night. Kelsey was upstairs studying Presbyterian video clips but could hear his dad shouting, especially when the lights incredibly went out with less than a minute to play in Paul Porter Arena.

Rest assured Mike Kelsey will pursue updates to Saturday’s Gardner-Webb-High Point game even as his son’s team tries to handle its business down in Clinton. All eyes in the Big South, most of them at least, will be on a game between the fourth and fifth place teams that, oddly, could decide the league’s regular season championship.

Tie-breakers for Saturday’s final day of the Big South regular season

▪ If Winthrop beats Presbyterian and UNC Asheville beats Liberty Saturday, they’ll finish 15-3 and tied for first place.

They split the two regular season meetings and both lost to Radford. Their differing losses were to Gardner-Webb (UNC Asheville on Thursday night) and High Point (Winthrop, back in January).

Since head-to-head doesn’t break the tie, the process moves down the league standings. Both would have swept Liberty, the third place team, meaning that the Gardner-Webb-High Point game would decide the No. 1 seed. A Gardner-Webb win would give the Runnin’ Bulldogs the No. 4 seed and Winthrop the tie-breaker advantage over Asheville (which lost to Gardner-Webb). A High Point win would give the Panthers a sweep over Gardner-Webb, the No. 4 seed and would send the No. 1 tie-breaker to best RPI.

The Big South is using Jim Sukup’s rpiratings.com for its official RPI report, but a new one won’t be released until Sunday morning. Any Big South tie-breakers that go to RPI won’t be finally determined until Sunday morning when Sukup’s new report is posted. The report released last Sunday had UNC Asheville at No. 74 and Winthrop at No. 75.

▪ If Winthrop and Liberty both win Saturday, the permutations are much less complicated. Winthrop and Liberty would be tied for first place, with the head-to-head tie-breaker going to the Eagles, who swept the Flames.

▪ If Winthrop loses to Presbyterian, the winner of Liberty-UNC Asheville claims the No. 1 seed.

This story was originally published February 24, 2017 at 5:31 PM with the headline "Big South, Winthrop, in for a wild Saturday."