SoCon Announces 2026 Men's Tournament Bracket
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The UNC Greensboro (UNCG) men's basketball team, who received the No. 7 seed, is set to compete in the 2026 Southern Conference (SoCon) Tournament at Harrah's Cherokee Center. The Spartans will face No. 10 VMI on Friday, March 6, in a first round game at 7:30 p.m.
The SoCon Men's Basketball Championship takes place March 6-9 at Harrah's Cherokee Center – Asheville in Asheville, North Carolina.
The Spartans are entering the tournament with a 13-18 overall mark and a 9-9 SoCon record.
The tournament begins Friday, March 6, with a pair of first-round games. Four quarterfinal games follow on Saturday, March 7, with the semifinals on Sunday, March 8, and the title game on Monday, March 9, at 7 p.m. The semifinals will air on ESPNU, while Monday's championship game will air live on ESPN or ESPN2. The other six games will air on ESPN+, with Friday's first round matchups also appearing on select Nexstar affiliates and Saturday's showdowns also broadcasting on South Carolina ETV.
ETSU locked up the outright regular season title with a 87-75 victory at UNCG on Feb. 21. The Buccaneers' win over the Spartans clinched the program's first regular season title in six seasons. ETSU enters the postseason with a 21-10 overall record and a 13-5 ledger in conference play.
ETSU opens play on Saturday, March 7, at noon, where the Buccaneers will take on No. 8 seed Chattanooga or No. 9 seed The Citadel, who will face off in the first round on Friday at 5 p.m. The Mocs and Bulldogs split their two meetings in the regular season, with the road team winning each of those matchups.
Friday's second contest will see No. 7 seed UNCG take on No. 10 seed VMI at 7:30 p.m. The Spartans won both matchups in the regular season, winning, 85-78, on Jan. 21, and 92-71, on Feb. 11.
The winner of that game will advance to face No. 2 seed Wofford on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. The Terriers, who are the defending tournament champions, went 19-12 overall and 11-7 in SoCon play under first-year coach Kevin Giltner. Wofford swept VMI during the season and splits its matchups with UNCG.
2026 Ingles Southern Conference Men's Basketball Championship
Friday, March 6 (ESPN+/Nexstar)
Game 1 - (8) Chattanooga vs. (9) The Citadel, 5 p.m.
Game 2 - (7) UNCG vs. (10) VMI, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 7 (ESPN+/SCETV)
Game 3 - (1) ETSU vs. Game 1 winner, Noon
Game 4 - (2) Wofford vs. Game 2 winner, 2:30 p.m.
Game 5 - (3) Samford vs. (6) Furman, 6 p.m.
Game 6 - (4) Mercer vs. (5) Western Carolina, 8:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 8 (ESPNU)
Game 7 - Game 3 winner vs. Game 6 winner, 4 p.m.
Game 8 - Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 6:30 p.m.
Monday, March 9 (ESPN or ESPN2)
Championship game, 7 p.m.
