Lamar vs McNeese State Picks, Predictions & Odds (Southland Title Game)

• The #1 McNeese Cowboys face the #2 Lamar Cardinals in the final of the 2025 Southland Tournament
• The Cowboys are massive home favorites in the Southland Conference title game
• See the Lamar vs McNeese odds, picks, and predictions on March 12

The class of the Southland Conference for the past two seasons, the McNeese Cowboys (16-6, 19-1 Southland, 15-16 ATS) can book their second straight trip to the NCAA Tournament when they host the Lamar Cardinals (20-12, 14-6 Southland, 17-11-1 ATS) at 4:00 pm CT/5:00 pm ET at The Legacy Center in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Wednesday’s college basketball odds don’t give the Cardinals much hope of an upset, setting the Cowboys as 13-point home favorites.

Updated Lamar vs McNeese Odds

Editor’s update: the odds in the table were updated at 3:34 pm ET. The copy below was published at 10:53 am ET.

The Cowboys are also -1250 moneyline favorites (92.59% implied win probability) in the Lamar vs McNeese odds, while the Cardinals come back as +740 underdogs (11.90% implied win probability). The total is sitting at a relatively lowe 132.5 with the over slightly favored at -115.

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It’s not hard to figure out why McNeese is such a massive betting favorite. Only one conference in the nation (Northeast) has a bigger discrepancy between its #1 and #2 teams than the Southland, where top-rated McNeese (59th) sits 98 spots higher at KenPom than the next-best team (Texas A&M Corpus Christi). Lamar (167th) is 108 spots lower. McNeese took both regular-season meetings between the teams. The Cardinals put up a good fight on their home court, falling 68-66 in a game they led by as many as seven in the second half. The rematch in Lake Charles was less competitive; McNeese opened up an 11-point lead by halftime and the Cardinals never got within six thereafter, ultimately falling 75-64.

DJ Richards Jr (10.1 PPG, 2.2 RPG) had a team-high 19 for McNeese in the first win while Sincere Parker (12.2 PPG, 2.5 RPG) had a game-high 25 in the second. Leading scorer Javohn Garcia (13.0 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 2.0 APG) was limited to 19 total points in the two previous games against Lamar.

On the Cardinal side, go-to junior guard Alexis Marmolejos (14.4 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 2.1 APG) had a game-high 20 points in the road loss to McNeese and another 18 in the narrow setback at home.

Lamar is looking to break a 12-year NCAA Tournament drought. The Cardinals’ last appearance came in 2012, when they were a 16 seed and lost in the First Four. Current boss Alvin Books is in his fourth season after a 24-year hiatus from a DI head coaching position. He didn’t manage to get Houston to the tournament in his five-year tenure with the Cougars from 1993 to 1998.

The Public’s McNeese vs Lamar Pick

The public is backing the favorites on the moneyline, putting a staggering 99% of moneyline handle on the Cowboys to win straight-up. But the ATS splits slightly lean to the visitors; so far 52% of ATS handle is on Lamar to cover the 13.5-point spread.

The public likes the over, as well. As of 3:37 pm ET, 67% of game-total handle was on over 132.5, along with 71% of the O/U tickets.

Lamar vs McNeese Picks & Predictions

• Lamar +13.5 (-110)
• Over 132.5 (-115)

Lamar has shown a tendency to play McNeese tough this season, coving both regular-season meetings against the Cowboys. McNeese absolutely throttled Lamar in the Southland Tournament semifinals last season (76-57 home) but Lamar is a considerably better team this year than last, and they finished the regular season with a much better ATS record than the Cowboys (17-11-1 vs 15-16). Moreover, the Cardinals were a brilliant 11-3-1 ATS on the road, while McNeese was .500 at home (7-7 ATS).

KenPom and Haslametrics both project a 12-point McNeese victory on Wednesday. Torvik has it at just 8.5, but before you go betting the house on Lamar, note that Torvik has mistakenly listed it as a neutral-court game. Still, the best analytics sites say the value is with the Cardinals catching 13.5 points, as do recent trends between the two teams.

Each of the last three matchups between McNeese and Lamar have gone over the total of 132.5, as well. Lamar has been a great under bet all season (10-19 O/U) but this line has been dropped a shade too low for my liking. Both teams love to hit the offensive glass; Lamar is 37th in OREB% and just 304th in DREB%, while McNeese is 80th in OREB% and 257th in DREB%, which should mean plenty of easy second-chance points around the basket.

Both teams als have great three-point percentages. The Cowboys hit at the ninth-best clip in all of DI (38.7%) and the Cardinals aren’t too far behind in 63rd (36.2%). Neither team plays at a fast pace (277th and 286th) but I don’t expect anything resembling a defensive slugfest.