HPU ROUNDUP: Aggies, Panthers picked 1-2 in track polls
Dec. 4—CHARLOTTE — North Carolina A&T swept the top spots in each of the Big South indoor track preseason polls while High Point University was chosen second in both.
In the men's poll, The Aggies were a near unanimous favorite with eight of the nine first-place votes and tallied 80 points. High Point received the other first-place vote and 70 points.
Hampton claimed third with 59 points, while Campbell and Charleston Southern tied for fourth in the voting with 52 points. UNC Asheville was sixth in the preseason standings with 34 points, followed by USC Upstate in seventh at 26 points. Gardner-Webb (19 points) and Winthrop (13 points) finished in eighth and ninth, respectively, to round out the poll.
In the women's poll, A&T garnered seven first-place votes and 97 points. HPU received the other two first-place votes and 89 points.
Hampton totaled 78 points and the remaining first-place vote for third-place, while Campbell claimed fourth with 67 points — just ahead of fifth-place Charleston Southern (65 points). Radford landed sixth in the polling with 43 points, followed by USC Upstate (seventh — 39 points), UNC Asheville (eighth — 38 points), Gardner-Webb (ninth — 20 points) and Winthrop (10th — 14 points).
BIG SOUTH ADDS ESPN GAMES
CHARLOTTE — For the first time in its history, the Big South Conference will have both of its basketball championship games televised on a national linear network, as ESPN2 will carry the men's final on Sunday, March 6, at noon, while ESPNU will broadcast the women's title contest on Sunday, March 6, at 8:30 p.m.
The tournament is scheduled March 1-6 at Bojangles Arena in Charlotte.
The women's championship game on ESPNU will be the network's seventh Big South basketball broadcast of the 2021-22 season, as six Thursday men's basketball "Wildcard" regular-season contests are scheduled to air at 7 p.m. Jan. 13, Jan. 27, Feb. 3, Feb. 10 and Feb. 24. There also will be a contest aired at 9 p.m. Feb. 17.
