Sunday, May 13, 2018

How South Carolina's NCAA Division I teams stand in their conference races, May 13

All leagues wrap regular-season play with Thursday-Saturday series next weekend.

Atlantic Coast Conference
* Clemson (39-13 overall, 19-8 conference) has a one-game lead over N.C. State (18-9 ACC) in the Atlantic Division with one weekend of league play remaining. If the teams finish tied, the Wolfpack would get the tiebreaker by virture of a head-to-head series victory. The Tigers and North Carolina (19-8) are tied for the overall top seed. Finale series matchups are Clemson at Pittsburgh, N.C. State at Florida State and Virginia Tech at North Carolina.

Atlantic Sun Conference
* USC Upstate (23-27-1, 5-13) is in eighth place, two games behind Florida Gulf Coast, Lipscomb, and New Jersey Tech (all 7-11). The Spartans would need to sweep a series at first-place Stetson, have North Florida sweep New Jersey Tech and have either Florida Gulf or Lipscomb sweep their head-to-head series to have a chance at one of six spots in the league tournament. New Jersey Tech is the only school the Rifles hold the head-to-head tiebreaker against.

Big South Conference
* Winthrop (23-27, 14-10) is in fourth place, two games behind second-place High Point (16-8) and one game behind Liberty (15-9). Radford (13-11) is a game behind Winthrop and Gardner-Webb (12-12) is two games back. The Eagles play host to Liberty, High Point hosts Presbyterian, Radford entertains Campbell and Gardner-Webb at is Longwood.
* Charleston Southern (17-32, 8-16) is tied for seventh with Presbyterian and Longwood, with UNC Asheville (7-17) one game back. Those four teams are battling for the final two spots in the league tournament. The Buccaneers close their season at home against UNCA.
* Presbyterian (15-36, 8-16), like Charleston Southern in a four-way battle for the final two tournament slots, closes league play at High Point.

Colonial Athletic Association
* College of Charleston (34-16, 14-7) is in second place, a one game behind first-place Northeastern (15-6), a game ahead of both Elon and UNC Wilmington (13-8) and two game up up on Delaware (12-9). The Cougars are at UNCW. Northeastern is at Delaware and Elon visits last-place William & Mary (3-18).

Southeastern Conference
* South Carolina (30-21, 15-12) is in third place in the East Division, one game behind second-place Georgia (16-11) and two games ahead of Kentucky and Vanderbilt (13-14). The Gamecocks are in fifth place in the overall standings, a game behind Georgia and Mississippi (16-11) and a game ahead of LSU (14-13). The top four teams earn a first-round bye in the SEC Tournament. South Carolina holds the head-to-head tiebreaker with Ole Miss, Vanderbilt and LSU, but not with Georgia or Kentucky. The Gamecocks are at Texas A&M, while Georgia hosts Arkansas, Ole Miss is at Alabama, Kentucky is at Vanderbilt and LSU is at Auburn.

Southern Conference
* Wofford (33-20, 13-8) is in third place, one game behind second-place Samford (14-7), two games ahead of VMI (11-10) and three games ahead of East Tennessee State and Mercer (10-11).  The Terriers play host to ETSU, while Mercer entertains The Citadel and Samford plays VMI.
* Furman (24-26, 9-12) is in seventh place, two games behind fourth-place VMI and one game back of ETSU and Mercer. The Paladins play host to regular-season champ UNC Greensboro (18-3)
* The Citadel (17-32, 6-15) is in eighth place and three game behind Furman, which holds the head-to-head tiebreaker. The Bulldogs are assured of being in the SoCon Tournament play-in game against Western Carolina (5-19).

Sun Belt Conference
* Coastal Carolina
 (36-13, 21-6) has clinched the Eastern Division title as well as the overall top seed. The Chanticleers visit East cellar-dweller Appalachian State (8-19) to end the season.

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