Summit League Tournament Odds, Predictions, Preview & Schedule

• The Oral Roberts Golden Eagles are the odds-on -180 favorites to win the Summit League tournament
• Oral Roberts was a perfect 18-0 in Summit League regular-season play
• The defending champion South Dakota State Jackrabbits are the second betting choice at +375

The Oral Robert Golden Eagles are three wins away from earning their second Summit League tournament title in three years. More significantly, the top-seeded Golden Eagles are three wins away from a perfect Summit League season.

Oral Roberts was 18-0 in conference play during the regular season. That’s garnered the Golden Eagles the #1 seed for the Summit League tournament.

As well, Oral Roberts are established as odds-on -180 favorites to cop the tournament title. The Golden Eagles are set as the #12 seed in the Midwest Region in the projected March Madness bracket.

2023 Summit League Tournament Odds

The #1 seed has won six Summit League titles since 2011. There’s been three wins each by the #2 and #4 seeds over that span of time.

Oral Roberts is listed at a betting line of +100000 in the March Madness odds. The Golden Eagles won the Summit League as the #4 seed in 2021 and then made it to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. That win also marked the only time in the past decade that the Summit League title was won by a school other than North Dakota State or South Dakota State.

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Summit League Tournament Format

An 10-school conference, the Summit League tournament begins with what basically amount to play-in games for the bottom four seeds. It’s #9 North Dakota vs #8 Denver and #10 Omaha facing #7 Kansas City in opening-night action on Friday, March 3 at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The first game gets underway at 9:30pm ET and all the games leading up to the final can be streamed on ESPN+.

The quarterfinals are split over two days. Oral Roberts and #2 South Dakota Dakota State meet their quarterfinal opposition on Saturday, March 3. That gives both of the top seeds, assuming they advance, a day of rest prior to semifinal action. The quarterfinal games involving the lower-seeded schools go the following day.

𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝙔𝙚𝙖𝙧, 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘾𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙩!
The Summit League Basketball Championships tip off in less than 48 hours at the @PREMIER_Center!#March2TheSummit pic.twitter.com/zmV0f91tGr

— The Summit League (@TheSummitLeague) March 1, 2023

Semifinals are set for March 5, with the Summit League tournament championship game on top for Tuesday, March 7 at 9pm ET. Catch the broadcast of the game on ESPN2.

It’s noteworthy that the #5 seed, the St Thomas Tommies, aren’t eligible to play in the NCAA Tournament until 2025-26. That’s because the school recently moved to NCAA DI from DIII.

Picking the Winner as Easy as 1-2-4

As noted previously, the winner of every Summit League tournament since 2011 has either been the #1, #2, or #4 seed. But the list of recent Summit League winners is also a short one when it comes to schools.

Oral Roberts were winners in 2008 and 2021. In between those victories, the only schools still in the conference that won Summit League tournaments were North Dakota State and South Dakota State.

Last year, South Dakota State went unbeaten in Summit League play en route to the title, a feat that Oral Roberts is seeking to emulate this season.

The Golden Eagles won their 18 regular-season conference games by an average margin of 17 points. They’ve scored 84.1 points per game, which is third in the country behind Gonzaga (87.4) and Toledo (85.2).

.@Vanover_Connor with the dunk, assisted by @maxabmas pic.twitter.com/yY6KcA7RAG

— ORU Basketball (@ORUMBB) February 24, 2023

Senior guard Max Abmas, part of the team that two years ago made a spectacular run through March Madness, is still with Oral Roberts. He’s scored 22.3 points per game, good for #5 in NCAA scoring. At the hoop, opponents must deal with the massive wingspan of 7-foot-5 center Connor Vanover. He’s third in the nation with 3.23 blocks per game.

If Oral Roberts is to be challenged, South Dakota State is the likeliest candidate. The Jackrabbits are defending Summit League tourney champs. They’re 10-3 straight up over the past 13 games. Included in that stretch was a 69-65 setback to the Golden Eagles on Feb. 25.

Still, it’s hard to see any team taking out Oral Roberts. They’ve won a school-record 27 games this season. The Golden Eagles bring a 13-game win streak into the Summit League tournament. They’re only team in the nation this year to run the table in conference play.

Pick: Oral Roberts Golden Eagles (-180)