2010 Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament Preview

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/08/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jackson State has played in the last three Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament Championship games and the top- seeded Tigers have a strong chance to reach that point again in the 33rd- annual SWAC Tournament, starting on Wednesday.

Jackson State, which collected a 17-1 ledger in conference play this season, lost in the final game the last two seasons, but claimed its fifth title back in 2007. The second seed went to Arkansas-Pine Bluff, while the third seed was corralled by last season's SWAC tournament champion, Alabama State. The Golden Lions only finished 14-15 overall on the season, but in conference play the team was an impressive 14-4. As for the Hornets, they hoisted the SWAC trophy for the third time in their history last year, but this season might be a tough challenge for Alabama State, which finished with a 12-6 league ledger. Prairie View A&M and Texas Southern come into this event as the fourth and fifth seeds, respectively, after both posting an 11-7 mark against SWAC opponents. The final three seeds are rounded out by Alabama A&M (8-10), Mississippi Valley State (8-10) and Grambling State (4-14).

Quarterfinal action will begin Wednesday when the second-seeded Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions battle the seventh-seeded Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils. These two schools closed out the regular season against each other and the meeting was claimed by Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 84-68. The Golden Lions earned the second spot with a 14-4 league mark, and caught fire down the stretch, winning eight of the last nine matchups. As for the Delta Devils, they tallied only nine victories on the season, but eight of those wins came in league play. MVSU, which won its fourth SWAC title in 2008, closed its regular season with five losses in its last eight matchups.

The Tigers will be let out of the cage in the second quarterfinal matchup on Wednesday, as the top-seeded Tigers of Jackson State tangle with the eighth- seeded Tigers of Grambling State. Jackson State rolls into this event with a 13-game winning streak, and is the favor to not only win this matchup, but earn a spot in its fourth straight SWAC Tournament title games. The success for Jackson State clearly makes this an uphill battle for Grambling State, which finished just 4-14 in league play and comes into this contest with a seven-game slide. Jackson State won both meetings this season, but Grambling State was able to force overtime in the second matchup, which could give the team some type of confidence.

The other two quarterfinal matchups will take place on Thursday, beginning with a meeting between the sixth-seeded Alabama A&M Bulldogs and the third- seeded Alabama State Hornets. The Bulldogs fell into the sixth seed with an 8-10 record in conference play. Alabama A&M snapped a three-game slide in its regular-season finale, but claiming its second tournament title could be a tough task. As for the Hornets, they claimed their third SWAC Tournament title this past season with a victory over Jackson State. This season Alabama State finished 12-6 in conference play, but ended its regular season with a loss to Jackson State that snapped the team's six-game winning streak. In the two meetings between the schools this season, the Hornets were victories twice.

The final quarterfinal battle will pit the fifth-seeded Texas Southern Tigers against the fourth-seeded Prairie View A&M Panthers. The Panthers won their lone SWAC Tournament title back in 1998, and the team will have to be at its best if it plans on ending the drought. Prairie View A&M lost two of its last three regular-season games, but still finished with a respectable 11-7 mark in conference action. As for the Tigers, they also posted an 11-7 mark and roll into this event with a three-game winning streak. Texas Southern, which has won this championship four times, last reigned supreme in the SWAC back in 2003. Although these two teams both finished 11-7 in conference action, the Panthers defeated the Tigers twice during the regular season.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.