The Southern Conference announced Feb. 12 that there will not be any general tickets sold for the 2021 Ingles Southern Conference Basketball Championships due to COVID-19 related health and safety protocols in Buncombe County, North Carolina.
“We are working with a variety of city, county and facility staff to make this a great but safe tournament for all participants,” SoCon Commissioner Jim Schaus said, according to SoConSports.com. “A lot of planning has also gone into having contingency plans as issues arise.”
The tournaments are expected to take place March 4-8 at Harrah’s Cherokee Center in Asheville, North Carolina. Should the men’s and women’s tournaments carry on as planned, the champions will automatically punch their tickets to their respective NCAA tournaments.
Additionally, due to several COVID-19 related game postponements, the SoCon announced adjustments to tie-breaking procedures for both men’s and women’s basketball — the teams will be ranked and seeded based off of their in-conference winning percentages.
In accordance with this policy, the men’s basketball teams are required to have played at least 10 regular season in-conference contests to claim championship eligibility, and the women’s teams are required to play eight conference games.
To learn more about the SoCon’s ticket and tiebreaker policies, visit SoConSports.com.
