CBB Review prepares you for every conference tournament leading up to Selection Sunday on Mar. 15. Up next: The SoCon Tournament.
The SoCon has had its share of recent waves in March, with Furman’s victory over Virginia still fresh in the minds of Cavaliers fans and Samford and Chattanooga having played high-major opponents close in the past five years.
The league didn’t show off much mettle against Power Five programs this season in the non-conference portion of the schedule, but there’s plenty of parity to go around. Every team except for VMI secured at least seven conference wins, and just four games separate the two seed from the nine seed in the SoCon standings.
East Tennessee State is the presumptive favorite as the No. 1 seed and regular season outright winner, but last year’s chaos saw six seed Wofford take down five seed Furman in the final. Anything could happen as long as Ingles is sponsoring in Asheville.
2026 SoCon Awards
Player of the Year: Baraka Okojie, Mercer
Freshman of the Year: Alex Wilkins, Furman
Transfer of the Year: Dylan Faulkner, Samford
Coach of the Year: Ryan Ridder, Mercer
First Team:
- G: Jadin Booth, Samford (21.2 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 2.2 APG, 43.1 3P%)
- G: Baraka Okojie, Mercer (19.5 PPG, 5.4 APG, 3.1 RPG, 1.4 SPG)
- G: Kahmare Holmes, Wofford (19.3 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 2.7 APG, 2.1 SPG)
- F: Dylan Faulkner, Samford (17.3 PPG, 8.6 RPG, 1.8 APG, 1.4 BPG, 61.8 FG%)
- C: Armani Mighty, Mercer (13.5 PPG, 10.7 RPG, 1.1 APG, 1.7 BPG, 65.1 FG%)
Second Team:
- G: Jordan Frison, Chattanooga (16.4 PPG, 3.9 APG, 3.3 RPG, 45.4 3P%)
- G: Nils Machowski, Wofford (17.1 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 2.6 APG)
- G: Alex Wilkins, Furman (17.3 PPG, 4.9 APG, 2.0 RPG)
- F: Justin Neely, UNCG (17.6 PPG, 11.4 RPG, 2.5 APG, 1.4 SPG, 53.1 FG%)
- F: Cam Morris III, ETSU (14.1 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 1.5 APG, 1.2 BPG, 1.2 SPG, 57.7 FG%)
2026 SoCon Tournament Simulation
First round – Friday, Mar. 6
8. Chattanooga (13-18, 7-11) vs. 9. The Citadel (10-21, 7-11) – 5 p.m. on ESPN+
The last time these two schools met, the Mocs jumped out to a 29-4 lead less than 10 minutes into the game. While that’s unlikely to happen again, the Mocs have been playing better than the Bulldogs recently, having won three of their last four. While Chattanooga is long way away from their preseason favorites label in October, the talent on their roster is enough to get past The Citadel.
George’s pick: 8. Chattanooga
7. UNCG (13-18, 9-9) vs. 10. VMI (6-25, 1-17) – 7:30 p.m. on ESPN+
There’s no reason for this game to be close, even though UNCG isn’t the SoCon power they once were. The Spartans won both matchups against the Keydets this season, and VMI hasn’t won a game in over two months. That streak should continue into the fall.
George’s pick: 7. UNCG
Quarterfinals – Saturday, Mar. 7
1. ETSU (21-10, 13-5) vs. 8. Chattanooga – 12 p.m. on ESPN+
East Tennessee State is back atop the SoCon standings for the first time since the Steve Forbes era. They’ve gotten there through good defense, averaging 8.7 steals per game, and preventing opponents from utilizing their bench. The Buccaneers are first in all of D-I with just 13.6 bench points per game given up.
Chattanooga simply isn’t the team that the media thought they’d be going into the season. The Mocs have lost to every team in the league at least once, with the lone exception of Mercer, and were swept by ETSU in the season series. The Bucs should advance here.
George’s pick: 1. ETSU
2. Wofford (19-12, 11-7) vs. 7. UNCG – 2:30 p.m. on ESPN+
Wofford was picked 9th in the SoCon Preseason Coaches Poll, but they tied for second in the conference, and due to tiebreakers, now hold the second overall seed in the tournament. UNCG, however, bested the Terriers 99-89 in the last meeting between the two teams behind Justin Neely’s 29 point, 16 rebound statline.
But the Terriers can boast a 76.3% defensive rebounding percentage over their past five games. If Wofford can control the boards against the Spartans on a neutral court, they’ve got the advantage.
George’s pick: 2. Wofford
3. Samford (18-13, 11-7) vs. 6. Furman (19-12, 10-8) – 6 p.m. on ESPN+
These two teams are about as even as a 3-6 matchup can be. Just a game separates the Bulldogs and Paladins, and they were tied in the standings before the last day of the regular season. Furman took both matchups earlier in the season behind two 20-point performances from star freshman Alex Wilkins, but almost a month and a half of basketball has happened since then.
In the nine games since, Samford has a 8-1 record with their lone loss coming on the road to Mercer by three points. Furman, on the other hand, is 4-5 since that game with a blowout loss to Western Carolina in the regular season finale. Conference tournaments are so often dictated by momentum, and that’s something Samford has right now.
George’s pick: 3. Samford
4. Mercer (19-12, 11-7) vs. 5. Western Carolina (14-15, 10-8) – 8:30 p.m. on ESPN+
Speaking of momentum, there might not be a hotter team in the SoCon right now than Western Carolina. The Catamounts fell to 8-15 overall with a 4-8 conference record after a loss to Wofford on February 7. This game will mark a month since then, and the Catamounts still haven’t recorded that ninth conference loss yet.
In the past month, Western boasts not only the best offensive rating in the SoCon, but also the best defensive rating. They’re averaging 12.0 offensive rebounds per game in that span and 16.8 second-chance points per game, both of which lead the conference.
Mercer is, of course, no lightweight. The Bears have one of the best combos in the conference between Baraka Okojie and Armani Mighty, and can make teams pay on the fast break if a transition opportunity exists. Okojie is the only SoCon player averaging over 5.0 assists per game, and Mighty leads the conference with 1.7 blocks per game.
But we don’t need to imagine hypotheticals with this game, because the two teams played on February 25, with the Catamounts emerging with a win. Even at a neutral site, it’s hard not to vote for the team that’s playing the best basketball of any SoCon team.
George’s pick: 5. Western Carolina
Semifinals – Sunday, Mar. 8
1. ETSU vs. 5. Western Carolina – 4 p.m. on ESPNU
On one hand, ETSU is, by both record and metrics, the best team in the SoCon. On the other hand, the Bucs are 13-3 against all other SoCon teams this season and 0-2 against Western. For whatever reason, the Catamounts have their number.
And as mentioned earlier, the Catamounts are currently playing the best basketball out of any team in the conference. One big reason for that has been the emergence of freshman Tahlan Pettway. Since Julien Soumaoro’s last game on February 14, Pettway’s PPG average has more than doubled from 8.5 PPG to 18.3 PPG. That stretch includes a 23-point performance against Furman in the Catamounts regular season finale.
But it’s so difficult to beat a good team three times. ETSU is the strongest team in the SoCon given an entire season of results, and every loss in conference games that the Bucs have suffered have either been by six points or loss, or gone to overtime. The Bucs have three 14+ PPG scorers, all of which are shooting at least 34.5% from deep. Can the Catamounts defense best this team once more? It’ll be difficult.
George’s pick: 1. ETSU
2. Wofford vs. 3. Samford – 6:30 on ESPNU
Wofford may have the two seed locked up, but the Terriers are not amongst the top teams in the conference, metrics wise. In fact, KenPom has them sixth in the SoCon in terms of overall net rating, closer to The Citadel than they are to East Tennessee State. In fact, the Terriers are coming off a home loss to The Citadel in their regular season finale.
Last time these teams met, Samford scored 97 points. While the Bulldogs face an uphill battle to reach that number again, they’re playing at a high enough level to make that a possibility. Wofford simply doesn’t have the mettle to knock off Samford at this particular point in time.
George’s pick: 3. Samford
Championship – Monday, Mar. 9
1. ETSU vs. 3. Samford – 7 p.m. on ESPN
The final comes down to the Bucs and the Bulldogs, two of the most consistent teams over the past month of games. ETSU and Samford split the season series, but the Bulldogs pulled out the win in their most recent matchup, with Samford outscoring their opponent 14-4 in the overtime period to win by double digits.
Cam Morris III was held to a season-low 1-7 mark from the field in that game, but there’s no reason to think that will happen again. In every other conference game this calendar year, he’s made at least three shots from the field. If Morris III hits that mark in the championship and Brian Taylor II scores in double figures, ETSU has the edge.
George’s pick: 1. ETSU