Southland Conference Tournament Preview: Odds, Schedule, Information & Predictions

Only one tournament starting Sunday and the last before the deluge that is Tuesday and Wednesday. The 2023 Southland Conference Tournament will decide which one of these teams gets one of the 16 seeds this March.

When is the Southland Conference Tournament?

Starts Sunday, March 5 and finishes up with a title game on Wednesday, March 8th

Where is the Southland Conference Tournament played?

After a long stay in Katy, TX , the Southland Tournament will be played for at least the next few years at The Legacy Center in Lake Charles, LA. Recently built, it is the home of the McNeese State Cowboys.

How to watch

Mostly on ESPN+ with the final being shown on ESPN2 Wednesday afternoon.

Who won the regular season title?

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi won a tight title race with a 14-4 (21-10 overall) record.

Defending Champ

Texas A&M-CC beat the top two seeds enroute to a NCAA berth last year.

Who will participate

Just the top eight teams. Lamar and Incarnate Word will sit this one out.

How Many teams will the Southland send to the tournament?

Only Wednesday’s winner.

Tournament Bracket

Another of the long, multi-bye brackets giving the top two teams the next couple of days off.

Southland Conference Tournament Odds

Clear favorites at the top with a couple also rans. The shortest of the teams playing on day one is +2600.

Southland Conference Tournament Preview

A really tough spot to look for underdogs this year. The neutral site helps, but the double-byes really knock down the chances for big time chaos.

McNeese played themselves in at the last minute and will be playing at home, but have the unenviable task of playing through the whole bracket and likely facing both top teams before it’s all done.

Led by senior transfer DeMarcus Sharp, I think NW State has a shot here, but I’m just not getting the discount in price I was hoping for. The offensive metrics are close to where TAM-CC sits, the defense plays well enough (leading the league in opposing effective FG%), and they may get a shot at the champs on a neutral court in Louisiana. Again, I’m just not getting big enough odds.

Texas A&M-CC has had a very good year and leads the league in a handful of stats but aren’t invincible, losing a couple of rough ones in a row during the middle of the season. This includes one to a Lamar team that finished dead last in the conference.

But, they are still the class. Going 5-1 against the other teams with byes (only loss was in OT to SELA), and leading the league in 3 point shooting, FT % and offensive boards is enough to get me on board.

Southland Conference Tournament Prediction

More chalk for me but at least it isn’t “Colgate-level” pricing here. I’ll take the best team with the best offense, the best defense and a fairly easy path. If you feel like getting cute, this is only a neutral site for seven of the eight teams, so maybe a sprinkle on the home team at a big number. For me though, I’ll take the team with the long name and short odds.

My Bet: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi +125