Wofford Takes Part in NCAA Tournament for Sixth Time; Chattanooga and Furman Return to NIT While "Bucky Ball" Makes Debut in College Basketball's Oldest National Tournament
Wofford set to make sixth NCAA Tournament Appearance in the past 15 years (picture courtesy of Wofford Athletics)
Four teams from the Southern Conference will take part in the college basketball's two NCAA sponsored postseason tournaments, with the most notable being the Wofford Terriers, who punched their sixth ticket to the NCAA Tournament in their NCAA Division I history after claiming what was a thrilling 92-85 win over No. 5 seed Furman in the SoCon title tilt.
On Sunday, the Terriers learned what seed they would be as well as who their opposition for the upcoming NCAA Tournament. The Terriers will be the No. 15 seed in the NCAA Tournament’s Midwest Region where they will face off against No. 2 Tennessee (27-7) in a game slated for 6:50 p.m. EST Thursday evening at Kentucky’s Rupp Arena in Lexington.
Wofford’s No. 15 seed marks the first time a SoCon team headed into the NCAA Tournament seeded that low since the 2014 season, when the Terriers headed into the tournament as the No. 15 seed before dropping a 57-40 decision to No. 2 Michigan in the Midwest Regional First Round clash.
The Terriers and Volunteers faced one another just last season in Knoxville, as Tennessee posted an 82-61 win over the Terriers at Thompson-Boling Arena in a mid-November matchup. That marked the first time the two teams faced off against each other since the 2004-05 season, when the Vols squeaked out a 73-67 win on November 29, 2004.
The Terriers come into the NCAA Tournament with a 19-15 overall record, finishing the SoCon season with a 10-8 mark, which was good enough for a sixth-place finish in the regular-season league race, which was a league that spent much of the season as one of the most competitive in the country according to KenPom, and finished the season ranking 13 out of 31 NCAA Division I conferences, according to that same metric service.
Tennessee was part of one of the strongest conferences in college basketball history, as the SEC ranked as the toughest conference in all of college basketball season, and the Volunteers were part of an NCAA Tournament record 14 teams selected to take part in the NCAA Tournament. The Volunteers enter the NCAA Tournament with a 27-7 overall mark after dropping an 86-77 contest to Florida in the SEC Tournament Championship game this past Sunday in Nashville. For the Volunteers, the 2025 NCAA Tournament will mark the 27th in program history, including the second in a row as the No. 2 seed.
The Volunteers will be making their seventh-straight NCAA Tournament appearance under legendary head coach Rick Barnes, as Tennessee finished the regular-season with an impressive 12-6 mark in the nation’s toughest hoops conference. This will mark the ninth all-time clash between the Terriers and Vols, with Tennessee having won all eight of the previous meetings between the two.
Wofford is 1-5 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, as the Terriers are one of two current SoCon members to claim a win in the NCAA Tournament this century, having knocked off Seton Hall, 84-68, which was a part of a 30-win season under then head coach Mike Young back during the 2019 NCAA Tournament, which is also Wofford’s last appearance in the Big Dance.
The Terriers would eventually get knocked out of the Big Dance by a member from the SEC, as Kentucky claimed a 62-56 win over Wofford in the Round of 32. The only other current member to claim an NCAA Tournament win this century occurred two years ago when Furman knocked off Virginia, 68-67, in an opening round clash between the No. 13 Paladins and No. 4 Cavaliers in Orlando.
Interestingly, the Volunteers were a part of the teams grouped to play in Orlando during the 2023 NCAA Tournament, knocking off both Sun Belt Champion Louisiana (W, 58-55) and ACC Tournament Champion Duke (W, 65-52) in Orlando.
The Terriers are currently under the direction of Dwight Perry, who is in his third season leading the Wofford Basketball program. Perry helped raise more than a few eyebrows, when in his first season and the interim head coach at the time, he helped the Terriers garner a signature road win at Texas A&M, as the Terriers knocked off the Aggies, 67-62, in College Station on Dec. 20, 2022.
The Terriers are 1-3 against SEC foes under Perry’s lead, and Wofford has faced only two foes taking part in the 2025 NCAA Tournament, dropping games to both, with setbacks at both Lipscomb (L, 69-78) and at No. 6 Duke (L, 35-86). Including that win over Texas A&M a couple of years ago, the Terriers have won six games over Power 5 Conference foes since 2017, including a pair of wins over North Carolina, and wins over Texas A&M, South Carolina, Georgia, and Georgia Tech.
Perry will at least be familiar with the surroundings upon his arrival in Lexington, as he was a three-year member of the Kentucky Wildcats basketball team from 2007-10, playing in 19 games. He also faced the Vols during his time as an assistant under Bob Richey in the 2017-18 season at Furman, with the Paladins dropping a narrow 66-61 contest at Thompson-Boling Arena.
All time in the NCAA Tournament, the Volunteers hold a 28-27 overall record and are taking part in their 10th NCAA Tournament under the direction Barnes, while Barnes, who has served as the head coach at Providence, Clemson, Texas and Tennessee in his legendary career, will be taking part in his 29th NCAA Tournament overall. The Vols advanced all the way to the Elite Eight last season before losing to Zach Edey and eventual national runner-up Purdue, 72-66, in an Elite Eight clash last season in Detroit.
The winner between the Terriers and Vols will take on the winner of No. 7 UCLA (22-10) out of the Big Ten and No. 10 seed Utah State (26-7) out of the Mountain West Conference, who is back for a third-straight season under a third different head coach. Thursday night’s game between the Terriers and Vols is slated to be televised by TNT.
Wofford vs. Tennessee Series History
Dec. 2, 1952 Tennessee 76, Wofford 65 (Knoxville)
Feb. 7, 1953 Tennessee 91, Wofford 88 (Spartanburg)
Dec. 7, 1953 Tennessee 107, Wofford 63 (Knoxville)
Feb. 1, 1997 Tennessee 60, Wofford 41 (Knoxville)
Dec. 7, 1997 Tennessee 92, Wofford 63 (Knoxville)
Nov. 21, 2003 Tennessee 81, Wofford 70 (Knoxville)
Nov. 29, 2004 Tennessee 73, Wofford 67 (Knoxville)
Nov. 14, 2023 Tennessee 82, Wofford 61 (Knoxville)
SoCon Teams as the No. 15 seed in the NCAA Tournament (0-5)
2014—No. 2 Michigan 57, No. 15 Wofford 40 (Midwest Regional)
2006—No. 2 Ohio State 70, Davidson 62 (Dayton Regional)
2005—No. 2 Wake Forest 70, No. 15 Chattanooga 54 (Albuquerque Regional)
1995—No. 2 UConn 100, No. 15 Chattanooga 71 (West Regional)
1985—No. 2 VCU 81, No. 15 Marshall 65 (West Regional)
Wofford in the NCAA Tournament (1-5)
2010—No. 4 Wisconsin 53, No. 13 Wofford 49 (East Regional)
2011—No. 3 BYU 74, No. 14 Wofford 66 (Southeast Regional)
2014—No. 2 Michigan 57, No. 15 Wofford 40 (Midwest Regional)
2015—No. 5 Arkansas 63, No. 12 Wofford 56 (West Regional)
2019—No. 7 Wofford 84, No. 10 Seton Hall 68 (Midwest Regional)
2019—No. 2 Kentucky 62, No. 7 Wofford 56 (Midwest Regional 2nd Rd)
While Wofford will kick off its NCAA postseason on Thursday, the first SoCon team to take part in March Madness will be Chattanooga, when it takes part in the National Invitational Tournament on Tuesday night when the Mocs face Middle Tennessee State with tip-off set for 8 p.m. EST Tuesday night at the Murphy Center.
The Mocs will be making their fifth all-time NIT appearance and first since 1987, as the Mocs earned four-straight tournament bids from 1984-87, which was a golden era for UTC basketball. The Mocs made a memorable run to the quarterfinals of the tournament in 1985, where UTC would lose to Louisville, who would win the 1986 national title under the direction of Denny Crum. That ’84-85 Mocs team would defeat both Clemson and Lamar in the lead up to their quarterfinal matchup with the Cardinals at Freedom Hall.
The Mocs, who finished the 2024-25 season with a 24-9 overall record, which included a 15-3 mark in SoCon play to claim the SoCon regular-season title, headed into the SoCon Tournament in Asheville as the No. 1 seed.
However, the Mocs had to play in the tournament without the services of one of their key performers, post Frank Champion (11.4 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 87 assists), who was injured in a practice the week before the tournament and could not participate in either of UTC’s two games. The injury to Champion would ultimately prove costly, as the Mocs fell, 80-77, in overtime to No. 5 seed Furman at the penultimate stage.
The Mocs were the first No. 1 seed not to claim the SoCon’s regular-season and tournament title since No. 1 UNCG failed to win the tournament after winning the regular-season title back in 2017. The Mocs’ Volunteer State showdown with the Blue Raiders will be as a part of the Dayton Regional in the NIT
The Blue Raiders, led by head coach Nick McDevitt, concluded the season with a 22-11 record and a 12-6 record in Conference USA, securing second place in the league standings. It will mark MTSU’s first appearance in the college basketball postseason since the 2021-22 campaign, and the Blue Raiders hold a 5-4 record in the NIT.
Like Chattanooga, MTSU was knocked off its conference tournament one game shy of the championship game, dropping what was a 70-68 contest to Jacksonville State. The Mocs and Blue Raiders will be meeting for the 69th time in series history, with Chattanooga holding the narrow 36-32 all-time series edge.
The Mocs and Blue Raiders will be meeting on the college basketball hardwood for the first time since Dec. 15, 2022, as the Mocs were able to get what was an 82-73 win at the Murphy Center in Murfreesboro. In fact, the Mocs have won the past three games against MTSU, with two of those coming at the Murphy Center. The winner of the Mocs and Blue Raiders will be playing as a part of the Dayton Bracket, as the Flyers garnered the top seed in the region. The winner of the all-Volunteer State battle will face off against the winner of the Florida Atlantic (18-15)-Dayton (22-10) winner, which is slated to tip off at 7 p.m. EST Wednesday night in Boca Raton.
Chattanooga was one of three teams from the Southern Conference to garner bids to the NIT, with Furman (25-9) and Samford (22-9) joining the Mocs as a part of the tournament.
This year’s NIT Final Four in the NIT will take place in one of the most historic arenas in all of college basketball, which is at Hinkle Fieldhouse on the campus of Butler University in Indianapolis. The 2025 NIT will mark the 87th edition of college basketball’s oldest national postseason tournament.
The Paladins will take on 2023 NIT Champion and No. 2 seed North Texas (24-9) in the Dallas Regional on Wednesday evening in an 8 p.m. EST contest slated for the Super Pit in Denton. The Mean Green, who play in the American Athletic Conference, finished off the 2024-25 season
The Mean Green are the 2023 NIT Champions and are under the direction of head coach Ross Hodge, who is in his second season as the head coach of the Mean Green after taking over for Grant McCasland, who leveraged his career upward after leading the Mean Green to that 2023 NIT Title. The Mean Green took down Andy Kennedy’s UAB Blazers in a 68-61 championship tilt back in 2023, which was played at Orleans Arena in Paradise, NV.
It was a bit ironic then, that the Blazers would be the team that would cancel the Mean Green’s NCAA Tournament plans this season, as the Blazers posted what was a 66-56 win over the Mean Green in the semifinals of the American Athletic Conference Tournament. The Paladins and Mean Green will be facing each other for the first time in series history. The Paladins have faced teams from the American before, downing Tulane. 75-67, early in the season at Bon Secours Wellness Arena, avenging what was a 117-110 double-overtime to the Green Wave at Devlin Fieldhouse last season. The Paladins also dropped a 92-86 contest at Bartow Arena to the UAB Blazers in 2023-24.
It will mark Furman’s third trip to the NIT and first since 2019, as the Paladins hosted American Athletic Conference member Wichita State. The Paladins were the No. 3 seed when they hosted the Shockers at Timmons Arena, however, unfortunately the Paladins came up on the wrong end of what was a 76-70 home loss to the Shockers. The Paladins have been a team displaced from the friendly surroundings of Timmons Arena this season, which is undergoing a 40-million dollar upgrade, and it’s been somewhat of a transitional season for head coach Bob Richey’s Paladins. The win for the Shockers was also the 500th for former Shockers head coach Gregg Marshall.
Should Furman find its way past North Texas in the opening round, it would also be a milestone win for Richey, who would collect his 180th (179-80) win in eight seasons as the Furman head coach. It will be an especially tall order, as UNT has made the Super Pit one of the premier venues in all of mid-major basketball, which includes posting a 15-1 record on its home floor this season. The Paladins are making their third appearance in the NIT, having gone 0-2 all-time in the prestigious postseason tournament. The Paladins also participated in the 1991 NIT, dropping what was an 86-67 contest at West Virginia.
The Paladins fell 92-85 in the championship game of the 2025 Southern Conference Tournament to I-85 rival Wofford. It was Furman’s third trip to the SoCon Title tilt in the past four years and was the fifth trip to the championship game this century. The Paladins are 1-4 in those games, with their only win coming in 2023, when the top-seeded Paladins knocked off No. 7 seed Chattanooga to punch their first ticket to the Big Dance in 43 years. The winner of the Furman-North Texas contest will face off against the winner of the Saint Louis (19-14) and No. 3 Arkansas State (24-10) clash, which is slated for Tuesday night at 9 p.m. EST in Jonesboro. That game will be televised to a national viewing audience on ESPNU.
Samford rounds out the Southern Conference participants in the 2025 NIT, and the Bulldogs, like Furman, will be in action on Wednesday evening. The Bulldogs saw their hopes of defending their 2024 SoCon Title come to an end earlier than anticipated, as the Bulldogs dropped a 95-78 contest to Furman in the quarterfinals of the tournament, as in the No. 4-5 matchup in what was the final quarterfinal clash of four in Asheville. The Bulldogs will head to Fairfax VA to face off against Atlantic 10-member No. 2 seed George Mason (26-8) in the opening round of the NIT. The Bulldogs and Patriots will tip things off at 7 p.m. EST at EagleBank Arena. The Patriots finished the season with an impressive No. 68 ranking in the NET.
The Patriots were involved in a thriller as a part of the A-10 Championship Game this past Sunday, as the Patriots dropped what was a hard-fought 68-63 contest to No. 1 seed VCU in the championship game. The Patriots, who made that famed run all the way to the Final Four as an 11 seed back in 2006 under the direction of then head coach Jim Larranaga, are currently being led by one of the stars of that ’06 Final Four team, in former point guard Tony Skinn.
That Patriots squad was one that paved the way for modern day Cinderellas in the NCAA Tournament, and just a couple of years later, the SoCon’s own Davidson Wildcats, which were then led by led by legendary three-point shooter Stephen Curry, went all the way to the Elite Eight before falling to eventual national champion Kansas.
A win for Samford over the Patriots would give current Samford head coach Bucky McMillan his 100th win in his fifth season as the head coach of Samford. The Bulldogs have won 20 or more games under McMillan, and he has been named the SoCon’s Coach of the Year in three seasons as the head coach of the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs will be making their second-straight NCAA postseason appearance, having competed in the Big Dance last season where the Bulldogs came up just short in a narrow 93-89 loss to Kansas.
Samford, which has its second-most win in its NCAA Division I history (22 wins), has a chance to garner the program’s second all-time postseason win as a program, with the Bulldogs taking down Canisius at the Pete Hanna Center back in 2017, which was an opening round game in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT), as the Bulldogs posted a hard-fought 78-74 win over the Griffins.
George Mason will be making its first appearance in NIT since the 2009 season and will be hosting its first home game since 2004. The Patriots have been one of the most consistent teams in college basketball this season and have won 24 of their last 29 games entering the NIT. Like Samford, George Mason has posted the second-most wins in program history with 26 victories, while the 15 wins inside the Atlantic 10 this season are a school record. George Mason was picked to finish sixth in the preseason by the league’s head coaches and have now strung together three-straight 20-win seasons.
The winner of the game between the Bulldogs and Patriots will play the winner of the No.3 Bradley (26-8) and North Alabama (24-10) matchup in Peoria, which will also take place Wednesday night at 8 p.m. EST. The Bulldogs won a thrilling 97-96 win earlier this season at North Alabama.
How To Watch the SoCon in the 2025 Postseason:
NIT
March 18, 2025 Chattanooga at Middle Tennessee State, 8 p.m. EST (ESPN+)
March 19, 2025 Furman at No. 2 North Texas, 8 p.m. EST (ESPN+)
March 19, 2025 Samford at No. 2 George Washington, 8 p.m. EST (ESPN+)
NCAA Tournament
March 20, 2025 No. 15 Wofford vs. No. 2 Tennessee, 6:50 p.m. EST (TNT)
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