2015 Atlantic Sun men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season2014–15
Teams8
Sitecampus sites
Finals siteUNF Arena
Jacksonville, Florida
ChampionsNorth Florida (1st title)
Winning coachMatthew Driscoll (1st title)
MVPDemarcus Daniels (North Florida)
2014–15 Atlantic Sun men's basketball standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L PCTW L PCT
North Florida †12–2 .85723–12  .657
Florida Gulf Coast11–3 .78622–11  .667
USC Upstate8–6 .57124–12  .667
Lipscomb7–7 .50014–17  .452
Northern Kentucky*7–7 .50013–17  .433
Jacksonville4–10 .28610–22  .313
Kennesaw State4–10 .28610–22  .313
Stetson3–11 .2149–22  .290
*NKU was eligible for A-Sun Tourney, but not for postseason play due to Div. I transition
† 2015 Atlantic Sun Tournament winner

The 2015 Atlantic Sun men's basketball tournament was the 37th edition of the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship. It took place from March 3 through March 8, 2015 on campus sites with the higher-seeded school hosting each game throughout the championship. The North Florida Ospreys won their first Atlantic Sun Tournament championship, earning an automatic bid to the 2015 NCAA tournament.

Format

The A-Sun Championship was a six-day single-elimination tournament. Eight teams competed in the championship.[1] On July 22, 2014, the A-Sun announced Northern Kentucky will be eligible for all conference postseason championships for which their teams qualify starting with the upcoming 2014-15 academic year, as part of their transition to Division I from Division II. The Norse must still complete the four-year reclassification period before becoming eligible for NCAA Championships. The change in A-Sun policy arose after NCAA clarification that a conference may set specific criteria allowing its highest ranked finisher to be the AQ recipient if a non-eligible team were to participate and win the conference postseason tournament. Prior policy had determined that the conference would lose its AQ if an ineligible team won the tournament.[2] However, that potential scenario did not happen, as the Norse lost their first-round game to Lipscomb by a score of 76-73. This proved to be Northern Kentucky's only A-Sun tournament game ever, as the school would move to the Horizon League effective with the 2015–16 school year.

East Tennessee State, along with defending champion Mercer, did not participate in the tournament after moving to the Southern Conference.

With ETSU and Mercer no longer in the A-Sun and FGCU eliminated in the semifinals, the tournament winner of the championship game between USC Upstate and North Florida was assured of making their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament. North Florida would represent the A-Sun with a 63–57 win.

Seeds

Seed School Conference Overall Tiebreaker
1 North Florida 12–2 20–11
2 Florida Gulf Coast 11–3 21–9
3 USC Upstate 8–6 21–10
4 Northern Kentucky 7–7 13–16 1–1 vs. Lipscomb, 0–2 vs. UNF, 0–2 vs. FGCU, 2–0 vs. USC Upstate
5 Lipscomb 7–7 13–16 1–1 vs. NKU, 0–2 vs. UNF, 0–2 vs. FGCU, 1–1 vs. USC Upstate
6 Kennesaw State 4–10 10–21 2–0 vs. Jacksonville
7 Jacksonville 4–10 10–21 0–2 vs. Kennesaw State
8 Stetson 3–11 9–21
Overall records are as of the end of the regular season.

Schedule

Time Matchup Final score Television
Quarterfinals – Tuesday, March 3
7:30 pm #8 Stetson @ #1 North Florida 67–81 ESPN3
7 pm #5 Lipscomb @ #4 Northern Kentucky 76–73(OT) ESPN3
7 pm #6 Kennesaw State @ #3 USC Upstate 54–90 ESPN3
7 pm #7 Jacksonville @ #2 Florida Gulf Coast 63–81 ESPN3
Semifinals – Thursday, March 5
7 pm #5 Lipscomb @ #1 North Florida 57–71 ESPN3
7 pm #3 USC Upstate @ #2 Florida Gulf Coast 63–62 ESPN3
Final – Sunday, March 8
2:30 pm #3 USC Upstate @ #1 North Florida 57–63 ESPN2
All times ET
#-Tournament seed

Bracket

Quarterfinals
March 3
ESPN3 		Semifinals
March 5
ESPN3 		Championship
March 8
ESPN2
         
1 North Florida 81
8 Stetson 67
1 North Florida 71
5 Lipscomb 57
4 Northern Kentucky 73
5 Lipscomb 76OT
1 North Florida 63
3 USC Upstate 57
2 Florida Gulf Coast 81
7 Jacksonville 63
2 Florida Gulf Coast 62
3 USC Upstate 63
3 USC Upstate 90
6 Kennesaw State 54

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Championship Format". Atlantic Sun. Retrieved February 17, 2015.
  2. ↑ "NKU Eligible for A-Sun Championships in 2014-15 Season". Atlantic Sun. Retrieved December 20, 2014.
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