Let me guess, you didn't see Davidson or Wintrhop play until the championship game, were talking about the first round here. ESPN puts almost every conference championship game (for NCAA bid) on natl tv.
Actually, no less than 2 of Winthrop’s games were shown locally. When I got home from the George Washington game last Thursday, I watched Winthrop’s quarter (or semi) final game. I’m pretty sure it was on ESPNU but ESPN2 picked up coverage which is why I was able to view it. It was a nice alternative to the UNC/Georgia Tech game.
However, historically, our first-round games haven’t been on TV. Maybe a couple of them back when we had a contract with WAXN but in recent years, I don’t recall seeing us play on Wednesday. Then again, we usually have a bye so that’s another reason some of us recall our first game (2nd round) being televised.