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2020 SWAC Tournament Opening Odds: Prairie View A&M Favored to Repeat at +130

David Golokhov

by David Golokhov in College Basketball

Updated Apr 8, 2020 · 10:58 AM PDT

Prairie View A&M Panther Stadium
The Prairie View A&M Panthers are favored to win the SWAC Conference Tournament. Photo by Larry D. Moore (Wikimedia).
  • The 2020 SWAC Tournament starts on Tuesday, March 10th, with the better seeds hosting games on campus
  • The top-five seeds went 53-6 at home compared to 26-64 on the road
  • Which team is the best bet to win the SWAC tourney?

The Southwestern Athletic Conference is set to get its conference tournament underway. Action tips off on Tuesday, March 10th. The top seeds host the quarterfinal games to start the tournament before the semifinals and finals are held in Bartow Arena in Birmingham, Alabama.

The Prairie View A&M Panthers enter as the No. 1 seed and the favorite to win it but are they the best bet to win it?

2020 SWAC Conference Tournament Odds

Team Odds
Prairie View A&M +130
Southern +275
Texas Southern +450
Jackson State +500
Grambling State +1100
Alcorn State +1700
Alabama State +3500
Alabama A&M +5500

Odds taken March 9th.

SWAC Tournament Bracket (2020)

2020 SWAC Tournament bracket
2020 SWAC Tournament bracket

The only teams in the field from the state of Alabama are #7 seed Alabama State and #8 seed Alabama A&M.

Prairie View A&M Enters As Top Dog

Prairie View A&M not only enters as the team to beat but they’re also the defending champs. They beat Texas Southern in the Championship Game last season and earned themselves an invite to March Madness as a result. In terms of the big picture and the 2020 National Championship odds, nobody from this conference will make an impact.

The Panthers finished the year 18-13, which is notable as only one other team in this entire conference (Grambling) had a record of two games over .500 or better. The challenge with the Panthers is that they were rolling with momentum on an eight-game winning streak but ended the year losing their final two games.

However, both of those losses came on the road. Don’t underestimate home-court advantage here as the Panthers were a perfect 11-0 at home. Taking a look at the top five seeds in this tournament, they are a combined 53-6 at home compared to 26-64 on the road.

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Texas Southern Plays Well In SWAC Tournaments

The Texas Southern Tigers are an interesting team to consider here because they play well at this event. They have won two of the last three tournaments and finished as the runner-up in 2019. They’ve been seeded No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 over those years – even winning it as a No. 3 seed in 2018.

They’re again a No. 3 seed and seem to have a decent path. They’ll start by hosting Grambling State on Tuesday, which is a team they swept in the regular season. The Tigers lost momentum to end the year, dropping two in a row, but they were playing without Tyrik Armstrong, who leads the team in scoring (14.3) and assists (4.1) per game.

Watch Out For Southern

If you’re looking for a team that’s on a roll, keep your eye on the No. 2 Southern Jaguars, who enter the tournament on a seven-game winning streak. That includes wins over Texas Southern and Prairie View A&M to end the year. They started the year just 3-13 but finished by winning 13 of their final 15 contests.

What’s The Best Bet?

Prairie View A&M is probably the safest bet but I’m willing to take a shot with Texas Southern at +450. The difference between these teams isn’t that great. By the time we get to Birmingham, we’re probably just flipping a coin. Texas Southern has good pedigree at this event and, with Armstrong healthy, they should make a good run.

Pick: Texas Southern (+450)

SBD’s NCAA conference tournament coverage: 

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