Big South Preview: 2026-27 College Basketball Predictions & Best Bets Recap
Troy Chewning (@Troychewning) and Cannabis Capper join Ryan McIntyre (@Moneyline_Mac) for the 2026-27 Big South preview, starting with whether anybody can knock off High Point. Cap goes all in on Presbyterian finishing second, while Ryan McIntyre wants no part of Radford.
The Big South Preview Starts And Ends With High Point
High Point is the team to beat, and nobody on this show is pretending otherwise. The Panthers went 31-5 last season and 15-1 in league play. They also ran through the conference tournament for a second straight year under a different coach. Then they pulled the March upset over Wisconsin, and Ryan McIntyre had the moneyline. So the real question in this Big South preview is how much they win by. Winthrop has separated itself as the second team under Prosser. But the rest of the league is chasing a program that keeps investing at a high level.
Cannabis Capper, calling in with boots on the ground from Kennesaw, thinks the arrow is pointed up across this league. The bigger question for Capper is how long High Point sticks around before chasing greener pastures. Troy Chewning pushes that further. Picture a 15-1 or 16-0 Panthers team that loses the conference title game. Then the committee passes on them for an at-large bid. That could be the moment they leave. But Mac points out the resume problem. High Point never plays buy games because they don’t need the money. They also didn’t face a single Power Four team last year. The last one was Georgia in 2024, and that was a loss by eight.
This year’s non-conference slate does have some teeth. Washington State comes to High Point as part of a home-and-home, so nobody is getting bought there. Capper also flagged Miami (Ohio) and a George Mason game that looks to be in North Carolina. Then there is the Liberty season opener, which Ryan McIntyre likes because both programs are spinning at a high level. Capper’s bar for an at-large resume is two or three signature wins, so that opener matters. And with this much money behind the program, the schedule is entirely a choice.
Alumni Coaches And Promote-Within Hires
Mike Morrell at UNC Asheville is now the veteran of this league. Nine years in, Morrell has a regular season title to show for it. Meanwhile Prosser has kept Winthrop consistent, and Quinton Ferrell is somehow already in year eight at Presbyterian. Ryan McIntyre credits Ferrell and Sean Nimley with raising the floor at Presbyterian and Charleston Southern, which are tough jobs. Both coaches also played at those schools. Ferrell played guard at Presbyterian, and Nimley played at Charleston Southern before graduating in 2015. So there is real pride baked into both programs, and it shows in how they build.
Then there is the group of coaches coming off year one. Clayman was promoted from within at High Point after Alan Huss took the Creighton job. Ronnie Thomas got the same kind of promotion at Longwood once Griff Aldridge left to work for Odom at UVA. Jeremy Luther was another promote-within hire, and it has been tough sledding at Gardner-Webb. Troy Chewning notes that Luther gets Jacob Hudson back, so the Bulldogs might steal a few games. Radford is the wild card because Chew, the NBA analytics guy, is only in year two. Troy also thinks the NIL well there has gotten a little more limited.
Stock Up: Presbyterian Gets Its Prove-It Year
Capper is all in on Presbyterian, and the case starts with what comes back. Jalen Peterson is a fifth-year senior who should compete for all-conference. Carl Parrish, one of the guards, should be in that mix too. Outside of High Point, Capper thinks that’s the best backcourt and frontcourt combination in the league. The portal added Chidi Chiekwualu, a 6’8 forward from Houston who fits their style. Eric Taylor and Everson King also add guard depth, and both are likely coming back from injury. So Capper pencils the Blue Hose in second after a 7-9 league finish.
This is the prove-it year for Ferrell. Presbyterian keeps landing in that 14- or 15-win range, and Capper wants to see progress beyond that ceiling. Troy Chewning buys the returning minutes too, though not all the way to second. Troy also bends the rules with a long-term hold on High Point, because the money machine is running great. Maybe this is the year they go 16-0 instead of 15-1. Meanwhile Ryan McIntyre goes a different way with Longwood in year two under Ronnie Thomas. Longwood was super young last year and has more talent now, plus a brand new arena. Mac thinks they can crack the top three.
Stock Down: Winthrop And The Radford Fight
Capper’s stock down pick won’t be popular. Winthrop doesn’t return a single starter, and that has Capper sliding a league stalwart toward the middle of the pack. They added pieces from North Dakota and the Indianapolis area. Capper needs to see it on the court before buying in. Capper also names Charleston Southern as a stock down team. Troy Chewning agrees on Charleston Southern because the roster just isn’t that hot. But Troy wasn’t willing to fade Prosser, since Winthrop is Winthrop. Mike Morrell got a pass from Troy too, because Asheville can figure a lot out if it rebounds.
Ryan McIntyre is out on Radford, and it’s the loudest disagreement of the show. Radford is the youngest team in the league, and Chew is the league’s most inexperienced coach. They were picked second in the preseason last year after spending big on the roster. Then they went 9-7 in league play and stopped in the conference quarterfinals. Capper isn’t having it. Radford went portal shopping in better conferences, including Tristan Gross from Mercer and Cam Jackson from UT Arlington. Capper also likes Chew as a real basketball guy instead of a nerd with spreadsheets. So the same team ends up stock down for one host and on the podium for another.
Fifteen And One And The Race For Second
The guys land on 15-1 for High Point. The Panthers lost at Winthrop by 17 last season, and the year before that it was a loss at Longwood. That’s three league losses across two years, and Longwood and Asheville have always been tricky stops. So Capper expects one road spot where the gym is on fire and the Panthers get avalanched early. Capper’s pick to do it is Presbyterian, with the Blue Hose second in the final order. Then come Radford, Winthrop, Longwood, UNC Asheville and Charleston Southern, followed by Upstate and Gardner-Webb at the bottom.
Troy Chewning keeps Prosser and Winthrop second, then Presbyterian third, which is still a big jump for Ferrell. Troy has Longwood fourth with the Billups kid taking a step forward. Asheville lands fifth for Troy because of rebounding issues, though Conner Dubsky could save them. Radford slides to sixth on that card. Ryan McIntyre also has Winthrop second, because Prosser has never finished below fourth. Mac’s board then goes Longwood, Asheville, Presbyterian and Charleston Southern. Radford falls all the way to seventh, with Gardner-Webb eighth and Upstate ninth.
The betting angle at the bottom of the league belongs to Gardner-Webb. The Bulldogs won one league game last year, but Troy says they cover first halves and then just quit. In one game they were getting 15.5 in the first half and led by 25. Then they lost. So if you’re ranking by first-half covers, Troy flips the bottom two and puts Gardner-Webb ahead of Upstate. Since this is a gambling show, the advice is simple: watch those Gardner-Webb first-half numbers.
High Point Sweeps The Futures And The Awards
Nobody picks against High Point in the conference tournament, and Troy flatly refuses to try it. According to Torvik, the Panthers are the oldest team in the country. It’s Transfer U again, with Cam Fletcher coming through Xavier, Florida State and Kentucky. Curtis Williams came through Tulane, Georgetown and Louisville, and Conrad Martinez came from Arizona. Franquan Sherman also made the jump over from Kennesaw. Troy looked at an experienced longshot like Presbyterian to win the tournament, but 6/1 isn’t worth it. Capper thinks High Point is around -125 for the regular season title. That’s not a bad number to take them at.
Cameron Fletcher is the player of the year pick for Ryan McIntyre and Troy. Troy figures Fletcher shows up to games in a pink fluffy jacket anyway. Capper goes with Jalen Peterson, who should average a double-double and pile up the counting stats voters love. Coach of the year is where it gets funny. Capper picks Quinton Ferrell, but Troy and Mac both say Clayman wins it again at 15-1. Alan Huss also won it back-to-back, and those were the only two years Huss coached in the league. So Mac’s verdict is short: it’s a High Point award, and the league isn’t even hiding it.
Locks And Dogs And A 43-1 Parlay
Before the show rolls into the SWAC preview, Capper runs through the Locks and Dogs schedule. Tuesday is college football with Capper and Troy, and Wednesday is NFL with Producer Mark in the second chair. Outside of that, they post plays like first touchdown and two-touchdown parlays on Twitter. Troy also points listeners to the 43-1 first half moneyline parlay they gave out. Their earlier 6-1 ticket already cashed. Next up is a Fifita 300 passing yards and Hawkins 100 rushing yards combo, which Mac fades with the Fifita under. Capper, meanwhile, is boots on the ground at Northern Illinois for the Hawaii game in two weeks.
Podcast Chapters
00:00 Download the SGPN App Today!
01:07 Big South Edition, Boots On The Ground
05:46 Spot The Ball In The Big South
07:15 High Point Greener Pastures
10:00 Coaches In The League
15:13 Stock Up And Stock Down Teams
23:19 Finish Order: Who Knocks Off High Point
31:05 Tournament Champion, Player And Coach Of The Year
36:56 Locks And Dogs Schedule
38:56 Sign-Off & Socials
