SoCon Championship Game Odds: ETSU Favored By 6.5 Points Over Wofford

• Wofford and ETSU meet on Monday, March 9th at 7 p.m. ET in the Southern Conference Basketball Tournament Championship game 
• ETSU won both meetings this season between the teams during conference play, while Wofford is on a cinderella run at the SoCon tourney having upset Furman & Chattanooga 
• See below for the game odds, preview and betting prediction

The No. 1-seeded East Tennessee State Buccaneers (29-4, 16-2) take on the No. 7-seeded Wofford Terriers (19-15, 8-10) in the final of the Southern Conference Basketball Tournament on Monday at the Harrah’s Cherokee Center in Asheville, N.C.

The Buccaneers were the favorites entering this tournament, as oddsmakers had them at +125 to win the tourney. Wofford’s odds were much longer at +2400.

ETSU has thus far lived up to the hype with double-digit wins over VMI and Western Carolina in the first two rounds. Wofford, the defending champions, had a more arduous path with wins over The Citadel, Chattanooga and No. 2 seed, Furman, to arrive in the championship game.

The teams met twice in the regular season with ETSU winning both matchups. However, both games were decided by single digits. The Bucs barely won at home back on January 1 by one point, 49-48. The two teams met again on February 27 with ETSU picking up a 60-54 win over the Terriers.

Wofford vs ETSU Odds

Odds taken on March 8th

SoCon Tournament Bracket

Is Wofford the Cinderella?

It’s that time of year where everyone loves a Cinderella. The No. 7-seeded Wofford Terriers could be that team this March. An experienced NCAA Tournament outfit from a year ago, the Terriers feature some seniors in Nathan Hoover and Trevor Stumpe, as well as juniors Storm Murphy and Cheven Goodwin.

Messiah Jones, a 6-foot-6 freshman, is a future star for the Terriers, too.

While this squad is without Fletcher Magee, known for his scoring and outstanding three-point shooting, players like Hoover, Murphy and Stumpe are good long-range shooters.

STORM MURPHY. CLUTCH. @WoffordMBB is headed to the SoCon Championship for the second-straight season!pic.twitter.com/LwYFYhjRem

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 9, 2020

ETSU Looking Strong

ETSU head coach Steve Forbes has built one of the more underrated mid-major programs in the country. Breaking a school record for wins in a single season, the Buccaneers are looking for their 30th win on Monday.

In its first two wins of this tournament, ETSU defeated VMI on Saturday 70-57, before rolling to an easy 97-75 win over No. 5-seeded Western Carolina in the semifinals on Sunday. The Bucs have yet to be tested and are looking poised for a run in the NCAA Tournament.

KenPom has ETSU as his No. 56 overall team in the country. The Buccaneers are fairly balanced on both ends of the court and are led by upperclassmen guards Tray Boyd III and Bo Hodges.

Highlights with the call from @ETSUBucsVoice from the 97-75 win over Western Carolina in Sunday's SoCon semifinal #ETSUTough pic.twitter.com/2lQWYABQd6

— ETSU Men's Basketball (@ETSU_MBB) March 9, 2020

The Pick

While neither team has strong National Championship odds, that’s mostly due to playing in the Southern Conference. Wofford proved last year in the NCAA Tournament that the Southern Conference can play with the top teams, as the Terriers almost upset Kentucky.

So, do the Terriers have more magic left? Or, is ETSU just too strong?

Don’t ignore that Wofford has played in one more game during this tournament. ETSU is also a fairly deep team as not one player averages more than 30 minutes per game. This factor could come into play.

While the two games these teams played in the regular season were close, roll with the top-seeded Buccaneers to win the Southern Conference championship as they are the better team.

Pick: ETSU -6.5 (-110)