ROCK HILL, S.C. - Carson-Newman's men's basketball program will enter the Pilot/Flying J SAC Men's Basketball Championships with a first round bye as the three seed. The league office announced the seeds Wednesday night after the conclusion of final round of regular season contests.
The Eagles will open the tournament Monday evening at 8 p.m. following Carson-Newman's women's team's quarterfinal matchup.
Carson-Newman draws the winner of the No. 6 versus No. 11 matchup between Wingate and Mars Hill. The Bulldogs and Lions will play at 2 p.m. Saturday in the opening round of the tournament at Cuddy Arena.
The seedings for the basketball championship are based on the final regular season winning percentage for all teams, regardless of the total number of SAC games played.
Lincoln Memorial finished with a league best 14-3 record and in doing so captured its ninth regular season championship in the last 11 years. However, in compliance with the SAC Return to Play Protocol for Basketball the Railsplitters will not be able to compete in the 2021 SAC Pilot Flying J Men's Basketball Championship.
With LMU out, Queens earns the No. 1 seed after it finished the regular season with a 13-3 record in conference. Tusculum earned the No. 2 seed with a 12-4 record. Carson-Newman is 11-5. The Eagles carry the Southeast Region's longest active win streak - and eight-game spurt into the league tournament.
Carson-Newman saw its final two games of the regular season, at Limestone and home against Lincoln Memorial, wiped out due to CoVID issues with the Saints and Railsplitters.
The Eagles are 2-3 all-time in the tournament as a three seed. The last time the Eagles were a three seed in the SAC tournament, they ended up with an at-large NCAA tournament bid (2018). The Eagles drilled Newberry 102-82 before bowing out to Queens in the semifinals 92-73.
This is just the fourth time that Carson-Newman has made the SAC tournament as a three seed. In fact, it is the least frequent seed C-N has drawn in the tournament. Prior to 2018, the Eagles last time as a three didn't go so well. In 2008, Mars Hill downed the Eagles 78-76 in the quarterfinals. That game is the only time in SAC tournament history that Carson-Newman didn't advance to the semifinals as a higher seed.
Tipoff Monday night is set for 8 p.m. Coverage of the contest will be available on the Eagle Sports Network at cneagles.com/live and over the air waves on The Mountain 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) starting with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff 15 minutes prior to gametime.
