Big South Power Rankings: Exam Week Slows Down Play

1. Winthrop Eagles (5-2)
Last Week: 1

Pat Kelsey's team came out and really challenged Virginia Tech early, but fell apart in the final 8 minutes of the game. The Eagles will now regroup and focus on exams this week, as they will not play again until next Sunday versus a Southern Conference foe.

Last Week: L 81-63 at Virginia Tech
This Week: 12/15 vs Appalachian State (2-5)

2. Charleston Southern Buccaneers (3-4)
Last Week: 2

The Bucs have lost four out of their last five games, but how good of a gauge is this given the Bucs tough out-of-conference schedule? Saah Nimley and Arlon Harper went cold and were 4 for 17 from the field combined in a loss in a rematch against Delaware. The Bucs now get a full week to prepare for  trip to Tuscaloosa.

Last Week: L 85-80 vs Delaware
This Week: 12/14 at Alabama (4-4)

3. Radford Highlanders (6-2)
Last Week: 4

Mike Jones' team took care of business this week and blew out both of their opponents in home games. R.J. Price was particularity impressive Saturday with 22 points against North Carolina A&T, including six three pointers. Radford is off this week before heading out west to play some really stiff competition as part of the Las Vegas Classic.

Last Week: W 111-72 vs Central Penn, W 72-52 vs North Carolina A&T
This Week: Off

4. Gardner-Webb Bulldogs (5-5)
Last Week: 3

Coming off a hot week in Las Vegas the Bulldogs slipped up a bit losing to Wofford at home. Tim Craft's Bulldogs responded well though beating The Citadel on the road Saturday afternoon. GWU will take on a non-Division I opponent this week before heading to Cameron Indoor in a week.

Last Week: L 65-62 vs Wofford, W 67-55 at The Citadel
This Week: 12/14 vs Clearwater Christian (Non-D1)

5. VMI Keydets (5-4)
Last Week: 6

It's tough to gauge the VMI Keydets and it didn't get any easier this week as Duggar Baucom's squad were blown out for their second straight road game, but then blew out a quality Wright State team in Lexington. Freshman Q.J. Peterson continues to impress this season and is now averaging 21.3 points per game, which leads the Big South.

Last Week: L 87-70 at Elon, W 94-74 vs Wright State
This Week: 12/9 vs Virginia-Lynchburg (Non-D1)

6. High Point Panthers (3-4)
Last Week: 5

To say it was a tough week for High Point would be a vast understatement. Not only did the Panthers get blown out by Georgetown, but they found out big man Allan Chaney's career is over. Scott Cherry's team now becomes very one-dimensional and teams will start to zero in on John Brown. It won't get easy at all for High Point either with a very tough out of conference slate left.

Last Week: L 80-45 at Georgetown
This Week: 12/14 vs James Madison (2-8)

7. Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (4-5)
Last Week: 9

The Chants had an impressive week in winning games on back-to-back nights. Elijah Wilson was once again the star dropping 16 points on Western Carolina and 23 versus North Carolina Wesleyan. Coastal will finish up their out of conference season with a weird set of home and home match ups versus South Carolina State and Central Connecticut State.

Last Week: W 76-68 vs Western Carolina, W 89-54 vs NC Wesleyan
This Week: 12/14 vs Reinhardt (Non-D1)

8. Liberty Flames (4-5)
Last Week: 8

It was an easy going week for the Flames with just non-Division I Greensboro on their schedule. We still don't know if this team can carry over some momentum from their impressive performance in Corpus Christi. We'll get a closer look at the answer to that question as the Flames host Austin Peay this week in a lingering Bracketbuster payback game.

Last Week: W 84-47 vs Greensboro
This Week: 12/14 vs Austin Peay (4-5)

9. Campbell Camels (4-4)
Last Week: 7

These Camels looked like the team we expect them to be this week when they got thumped by UNC Wilmington. Campbell will look to rebound this week with non-Division I Chowan coming to town before two rough road games.

Last Week: L 69-50 at UNC Wilmington
This Week: 12/10 vs Chowan (Non-D1), 12/13 at Loyola-Ill (4-5)

10. Longwood Lancers (3-7)
Last Week: 10

Jayson Gee's young team took down a non-Division I squad and then played their best game of the year in a close home loss to OVC favorite Eastern Kentucky. Though the team is young and Gee's system is being installed, there are plenty of glimmers of hope. Tristan Carey is averaging 19.4 points per game, sophomore Lucas Woodhouse is leading the conference in assists at 6.6 per game, and another sophomore Karl Ziegler has grown into a solid scorer and rebounder.

Last Week: W 95-80 vs West Virginia Tech, L 76-67 vs Eastern Kentucky
This Week: 12/14 vs Bluefield State (Non-D1)

11. UNC Asheville Bulldogs (1-7)
Last Week: 11

The Bulldogs were off this past week, but UNCA will finally get to play their first home game this week when they host a non-Division I opponent. Asheville when then hit the road again for a solid measuring stick game against USC Upstate.

Last Week: Off
This Week: 12/12 vs Bluefield (Non-D1), 12/15 at USC Upstate (5-4)

12. Presbyterian Blue Hose (3-8)
Last Week: 12

Presbyterian came out of nowhere to beat UNC Greensboro by 21 points on the road. Then PC destroyed a non-Division I opponent, but came back to earth losing to Furman by 15. Jordan Downing and Reggie Dillard are putting together a tough scoring combo in Clinton, but how far will it take the Hose?

Last Week: W 87-66 at UNC Greensboro, W 91-58 vs Montreat, L 74-59 vs Furman
This Week: Off