Southwestern Athletic Conference NCAA Tournament Betting

Southwestern Athletic Conference NCAA Tournament Betting

Once again, the SWAC is the worst conference in college basketball. The best team in the conference right now is Alcorn State, and the Braves are 12-4 in SWAC play after going 1-11 in non-conference games. Texas Southern and Southern are the only two teams with winning records, and that will likely ensure that the winner of the SWAC Championship Game will be heading to Dayton in something of a tradition.

Alcorn State’s only win in non-conference play came over 10-22 Milwaukee. The Braves played a tough schedule though, and they didn’t get to play a home game until more than two months into the season. They currently have the edge on Texas Southern for the No. 1 seed as a result of their two wins over the Tigers, but those victories came by a combined four points.

Ken Pomeroy ranks Texas Southern as the second-best team in the SWAC, just behind Southern. The Tigers have greatly benefited from opponents struggling at the free throw line, but they rank 24th in perimeter defense and 26th in defensive effective field goal percentage. No one on this team is averaging double digits in scoring though, and they are making just 30.8% of their threes.

Southern could be the team to beat although the Jaguars are currently in third place in the SWAC standings. They are great at forcing turnovers, and they rank first in the conference in both offense and defense per Pomeroy’s metrics. Tyrone Lyons can take over games too with his scoring.

This conference added Bethune-Cookman and Florida A&M from the MEAC last summer. Both teams finished in the middle of the pack in their first year in the SWAC.

Southwestern Athletic Tournament Format

Only eight of the 12 SWAC teams will qualify for the conference tournament. All seven games of this tournament will take place at Bartow Arena in Birmingham, Alabama from March 9-12. The No. 1 seed and No. 2 seed will take part in the quarterfinals on March 9, while the other two quarterfinals will be held on March 10. The semifinals will take place on Friday, March 11, starting at 2 p.m. ET. The SWAC Championship Game is slated for Saturday, March 12, at 5 p.m. ET on ESPNU.

Most Wins All-Time in Southwestern Athletic Tournament

The SWAC has had a nice mix of parity over the decades. Texas Southern has dominated the conference in recent years though, running down Southern as the most successful program after winning the SWAC Tournament five times in the last seven years.  Only Grambling State hasn't won a SWAC Championship in its history, and this is also one of two teams amongst the 12 programs in the conference to never reach the NCAA Tournament.

Runs of dominance are few and far between, making what we’ve seen from Texas Southern very special. The Tigers won the conference tournament in four of five seasons from 2014 to 2018, and they won three straight regular season titles under former Indiana head coach Mike Davis from 2015 to 2017. Texas Southern regressed slightly after Davis left, but former LSU coach Johnny Jones has kept the winning tradition alive.

The best run in the history of the SWAC belongs to Alcorn State. The Braves won this championship five times in six years from 1979 through 1984, and they won at least a share of the regular season title as well in a string of seven out of eight years around that time. They are also the most successful SWAC team in the NCAA Tournament by a mile.

Southwestern Athletic Tournament Championship Games

NCAA Basketball Conferences

• America East
• American Athletic
• Atlantic 10
• Atlantic Coast
• Atlantic Sun
• Big 12
• Big East
• Big Sky
• Big South
• Big Ten
• Big West
• Colonial Athletic Association
• Conference USA
• Horizon League
• Ivy League
• Metro Atlantic Athletic
• Mid-American
• Mid-Eastern Athletic
• Missouri Valley
• Mountain West
• Northeast
• Ohio Valley
• Pac-12
• Patriot League
• Southeastern
• Southern
• Southland
• Southwestern Athletic
• Summit League
• Sun Belt
• West Coast
• Western Athletic

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