Big South

Overall Rank: #112

Next up in CHN writer Jon Teitel's greatest coaches series is current Wichita State head coach Gregg Marshall, who is considered by many to be the greatest coach in the history of Winthrop Basketball. Before leaving for the Missouri Valley Conference, Marshall established the Eagles as the standard in the Big South, making seven NCAA Tournament appearances and winning six Big South regular season titles. 

CHN writer Jon Teitel has yet another installment in his player interview series, this time talking with Charleston Southern great Ben Hinson. Originally an NC State signee, Hinson ended up at Charleston Southern where he went on to become the best player in school history.  

Before getting into Saturday's action it's only right to salute the first team guaranteed a spot in the Field of 65. Cornell clinched their third consecutive Ivy League title on Friday night, winning at Brown by the final score of 95-76. The Big Red knocked down twenty (yes, twenty) three-pointers in the win, which is the fifteenth of the season away from home (a school record). All five scorers reached double figures with Jon Jacques leading the way with 20 points. The Big Red also limited the Bears to 30% shooting from the field and 29 points in the second half.

Dayton went into Thursday night's game at Richmond knowing that they needed a tough win, especially on the road, to improve their resume in regards to a possible at-large bid. Having dropped six games by four points or less (five of which came on the road) they needed to find some way in which to reverse that luck. All they were able to do is add another line to the list, losing 60-56 at Robins Center despite out-rebounding the Spiders 44-25 on the night. The issues for Dayton have been two-fold and Thursday night was simply the most recent example.

In regards to bubble teams Wednesday saw a lot of teams leave the door open for someone to sneak in and grab an at-large bid, and it's made quite the case why we're just fine with sixty-five teams. But with this arguably being the weakest bubble pool in the 64/65 era there are ample opportunities for teams seemingly off the radar to sneak in and grab a bid. One of those teams is Dayton, who visits a Richmond team that looks to be a safe bet for the Big Dance.

While three leagues begin conference tournament play on Tuesday there's also plenty of things to be settled in conferences who won't start their tourneys until next week. Florida and Illinois are two teams that look to be in good shape as of right now but both are faced with ranked opponents who would vault them into the Big Dance for sure were they to win. The Gators host Vanderbilt, a team that's still got designs on the SEC's overall title, in a game they can win provided guards Erving Walker and Kenny Boynton make sound decisions with the basketball.

UNC-Asheville

Radford

VMI

Winthrop

Other (Gardner-Webb, Liberty, etc)

CHARLOTTE, N.C. ? The Big South Conference Council of Chief Executive Officers has voted to add Campbell University as a full member of the League, beginning July 1, 2011, it was announced today by Big South Conference Commissioner Kyle B. Kallander. Campbell, a charter member of the Big South in 1983 until its departure in 1994, will be eligible to compete for all Big South championships immediately upon entry in 2011.