Sasser Cup | |
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Awarded for | the top athletic program in the Big South Conference |
Presented by | Big South Conference |
First awarded | 1986 to Winthrop |
Currently held by | High Point University |
The George F. "Buddy" Sasser Cup Trophy (usually just called the Sasser Cup) is a trophy awarded annually to the top athletic program in the Big South Conference. Formally called The Commissioner's Cup, it was renamed The Sasser Cup after former commissioner Buddy Sasser.
Annual Sasser Cup champions
The Big South Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. Originally a non-football conference, the Big South began sponsoring football in 2002 as part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), and began operating the Big South–OVC Football Association in partnership with the Ohio Valley Conference in 2023. The Big South, founded in 1983, is firmly rooted in the South Atlantic region of the United States, with full member institutions located in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. Associate members are located in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and South Carolina.
George F. "Buddy" Sasser is a former American football coach and athletics administrator. As commissioner of the Big South Conference between 1989 and 1996, Sasser was responsible for increasing membership, gaining automatic bids to the NCAA basketball tournament and adding basketball television exposure for the conference.
Athletes and sports teams from North Carolina compete across an array of professional and amateur levels of competition, along with athletes who compete at the World and Olympic levels in their respective sport. Major league professional teams based in North Carolina include teams that compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL), Major League Soccer (MLS), and National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The state is also home to NASCAR Cup Series races. At the collegiate and university level, there are several North Carolina schools in various conferences across an array of divisions. North Carolina also has many minor league baseball teams. There are also a number of indoor football, indoor soccer, minor league basketball, and minor league ice hockey teams based throughout the state.
Randy Peele is an American college basketball coach. Peele served as the head men's basketball coach at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro from 1995 to 1999 and Winthrop University to 2007 to 2012.
The UNC Greensboro Spartans are the athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in Greensboro, North Carolina. They compete in the Southern Conference in all sports.
The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers are the athletic teams that represent Coastal Carolina University. They participate in Division I of the NCAA as a member of the Sun Belt Conference (SBC) in most sports, having joined that conference as a full but non-football member on July 1, 2016. At that time, the football team began a transition from the second-level Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) to the top-level Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The team played the 2016 season as an FCS independent, joined SBC football for the 2017 season, and became full FBS members for 2018 and beyond. A Chanticleer is a proud and fierce rooster. Before joining the SBC, the Chanticleers had been members of the Big South Conference since that league's formation in 1983. Coastal fields varsity teams in 19 sports, 8 for men and 11 for women. The university regularly competed for the Sasser Cup, the Big South's trophy for the university with the best sports program among the member institutions, winning the trophy nine times, tied with rival Liberty University.
The Liberty Flames and Lady Flames are the athletics teams of Liberty University, in Lynchburg, Virginia, United States. They are a member of the NCAA Division I level in 20 sports. As of July 1, 2023, LU is a member of Conference USA (C-USA) for most sports, joining that league after five years as a member of the ASUN Conference.
The Big South Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year is an annual award given to the Big South Conference's most outstanding player. The award was first given following the 1985–86 season, the first year the league conducted basketball competition.
Gray–Minor Stadium is a 1,400-seat facility home to the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) Keydets baseball team in Lexington, Virginia. It is named after Elmon T. Gray and Gil Minor, graduates of VMI in 1946 and 1963, respectively.
The 2012 Big South men's basketball tournament took place February 27, 29, March 1, and March 3, 2012. The semifinals were televised on ESPNU, and the championship on ESPN2. It was the first year the Big South introduced a first round that consisted of 2 games to be held on campus sites of the higher seeds. VMI and High Point defeated Radford and Gardner-Webb, respectively, to advance to the quarterfinals, held at UNC Asheville's Kimmel Arena along with the semifinals.
The 2011 Charlotte 49ers men's soccer team represented the University of North Carolina at Charlotte during the 2011 NCAA Division I men's soccer season.
The 2012 Big South Conference men's soccer tournament will be the 29th edition of the tournament. The tournament will decide the Big South Conference champion and guaranteed representative into the 2012 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship. Held from November 6–11, the semifinal and championship rounds will be held at the Bryan Park Soccer Complex in Greensboro, North Carolina.
The 2013 Big South Conference men's soccer tournament will be the 30th edition of the tournament. Held from Nov. 14-17, it will determine the Big South Conference champion, and the automatic berth into the 2013 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship. The Winthrop Eagles are the defending men's soccer champions.
The 1993 Big South Conference men's basketball tournament took place March 3–6, 1993, at the North Charleston Coliseum in North Charleston, South Carolina. For the third time in their school history, the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers won the tournament, led by head coach Russ Bergman.
The 2015–16 UNC Asheville Bulldogs men's basketball team represented the University of North Carolina at Asheville during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bulldogs, led by third year head coach Nick McDevitt, played their home games at Kimmel Arena and were members of the Big South Conference. They finished the season 22–12, 12–6 in Big South play to finish in a tie for third place. They defeated Liberty, High Point, and Winthrop to become champions Big South tournament and received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where they were eliminated in the first round by Villanova.
The 2015 Big South Conference men's soccer tournament was the 32nd edition of the tournament. It determined the Big South Conference's automatic berth into the 2015 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship.
The 2016 Big South Conference women's soccer tournament is the postseason women's soccer tournament for the Big South Conference to be held from October 28 to November 6, 2016. The seven match tournament will be held at campus sites, with the semifinals and final held at Bryan Park in Greensboro, North Carolina. The eight team single-elimination tournament will consist of three rounds based on seeding from regular season conference play. The Liberty Flames are the defending tournament champions, after defeating the Campbell Lady Camels in the championship match.
The 2017 Big South Conference women's soccer tournament was the postseason women's soccer tournament for the Big South Conference held from October 27 through November 5, 2017. The quarterfinals of the tournament were held at campus sites, while the semifinals and final took place at Bryan Park in Greensboro, North Carolina. The eight-team single-elimination tournament consisted of three rounds based on seeding from regular season conference play. The Liberty Flames were the defending champions, but they were eliminated from the 2017 tournament with a 2–0 semifinal loss to the Longwood Lancers. The High Point Panthers won the tournament with a 1–0 win over Longwood in the final. The conference tournament title was the sixth for the High Point women's soccer program and the fourth for head coach Marty Beall.
The Big South Conference men's soccer tournament is a men's college soccer tournament that determines the Big South Conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament. Held annually since 1984, the tournament is the oldest active NCAA Division I men's college soccer tournament.
The 2021–22 Big South Conference men's basketball season started non-conference play on November 9, 2021, and began conference play on January 5, 2022. The regular season ended on February 26, 2022, setting up the 2021–22 Big South Conference men's basketball tournament from March 2 to March 6.