For the second year in a row, the team to beat in the A-Sun Tournament appears to be the No. 2 seed.
You might remember this.
The Florida Gulf Coast Eagles had to win the Atlantic Sun Tournament last year to get the No. 15 seed so that they could throw lobs all over poor Georgetown (and then San Diego State in the round of 32) on their way to becoming the highest-seeded team ever in the Sweet 16. Florida Gulf Coast won the A-Sun Tournament last year as its No. 2 seed, earning a 13-point win over the No. 1 Mercer Bears in the final to grab the league's berth to the Big Dance.
This isn't the same Florida Gulf Coast team. Former Kansas assistant Joe Dooley took over as head coach when Andy Enfield left for the USC job, though it generally profiles similar to last year's team. A lot of the same personnel that headlined last year's team is still around (four starters returned).
But even though the Eagles were the No. 2 seed in last year's tournament, they were the team to beat. And the reverse is true this year. No. 2 Mercer is the team to beat for the A-Sun's berth to the field of 68.
The Bears rank No. 99 in KenPom.com's team rankings, leagues ahead of Florida Gulf Coast, which is third in the A-Sun at No. 176. The Bears boast a top-100 defense, a December win over Ole Miss (and a three-point loss to Texas that opened the season on Nov. 8 in Austin), and the league's best player this season in 6'4 guard Langston Hall. He's averaged 14.9 points and 5.5 assists per game this season.
The Bears aren't quite in the Mid-Major Madness Power 15, but they did receive votes in the final poll of the regular season.
The USC Upstate Spartans, the No. 3 seed in the tournament, had non-conference wins at Virginia Tech and at South Carolina, and they played Tennessee to a 74-65 final in Knoxville. The Spartans lost both meetings against Florida Gulf Coast in the regular season, and they split with Mercer. They could meet the Bears in the semifinals.
The tournament follows a standard eight-team bracket, and all seven games in the tournament will be played on campus sites of the better-seeded team in each game.
Quarterfinals: Tuesday, March 4
Game 1: No. 8 Stetson Hatters at No. 1 Florida Gulf Coast Eagles, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN3)
Game 2: No. 5 Lipscomb Bisons at No. 4 East Tennessee State Buccaneers, 7 p.m. ET
Game 3: No. 7 Jacksonville Dolphins at No. 2 Mercer Bears, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN3)
Game 4: No. 6 North Florida Ospreys at No. 3 USC Upstate Spartans, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN3)
Semifinals: Thursday, March 6
Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 6:30 p.m. ET (CSS)
Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 8:30 p.m. ET (CSS)
Semifinal game times are subject to change.
Final: Sunday, March 9
2 p.m. ET (ESPN2)