2024 Southland Conference Odds: McNeese State Huge Favorites
Cowboys are Class of the Southland Conference
The Southland Conference Tournament begins on Sunday at the Legacy Center in Lake Charles, Louisiana. That also happens to be the home court of the McNeese State Cowboys. It’s not as though the Cowboys need any additional help to win the tournament.
McNeese State is easily the best team in the conference and won’t be an easy first-round game for anybody in the NCAA March Madness bracket. The 2024 Southland Conference odds reflect how good McNeese State is compared to the rest of the teams in the field.
McNeese St. Cowboys (-240)
The Cowboys finished the season 28-3 overall and 17-1 in conference games. McNeese St. picked-up wins over VCU, UAB and Michigan during the preseason portion of its slate. The Cowboys have won nine straight games and 23 of their last 24. Still, McNeese is going to a huge longshot to win a few games in the NCAA Tournament.
The March Madness betting odds have the Cowboys +9500 to advance to the Final Four, which is a bit on the low side. The Cowboys should be close to a No. 14 seed for the March Madness bracket predictions if they capture the conference tournament.
Offensively, nobody in the Southland Conference comes close to McNeese St. The Cowboys are No. 1 in conference games in 2- and 3-point shooting, turnover percentage and are No. 2 in offensive rebounds. The only metric the Cowboys aren’t No. 1 or No. 2 in is free throw shooting. The Cowboys are No. 5 at 71.7%.
McNeese St. is also No. 1 in the Southland Conferences’ KenPom defensive efficiency ratings. The Cowboys lead the conference in forced turnovers, blocks and steals. The team is No. 2 in 2-point defense and No. 4 in 3-point defense. The Cowboys do a solid job of not sending teams to the foul line and preventing offensive rebounds.
Texas A&M Corpus Christi Islanders (+280)
The Islanders are having a nice season, going 21-10 and 14-4 in the Southland Conference. All four losses were by seven points or less, including two defeats at the hands of McNeese St. Defense is the name of the game for the Islanders and they’re the only ones who come close to the Cowboys.
Corpus Christi held conference teams to 44.5% shooting on 2-pointers and 31.4% on 3-pointers. The problem for the Islanders is sending teams to the foul line. They rank last in the conference there, with opposing teams scoring 25.6% of their points from the foul line.
The Islanders aren’t a great shooting team, but are best in the conference at chasing down offensive rebounds. Corpus Christi takes pretty good care of the basketball, but its woes from the field overshadow that at times.
Lamar Cardinals (+1100)
Lamar finished with the fourth-best conference record, but is probably the third-best team in the Southland, which is reflected in the 2024 Southland Conference odds. The Cardinals are a better offensive team than they are defensively. There is a bit of a step down from the top two teams to Lamar, however, with the Cardinals losing both games to the Cowboys and Islanders.
The Cardinals can shoot the ball. Lamar is No. 2 in the conference in 2-point field goal percentage and free throw shooting. The team makes one-third of its 3-point attempts, which is just below average, but not all that bad. Lamar doesn’t get to the foul line often, which hurts the team a bit in the efficiency ratings.
Defensively, the Cardinals allow too many offensive rebounds, although that’s pretty much their major weakness. Lamar defends well enough and can block some shots. The Cardinals will have to tighten up its 3-point defense a little bit heading into the tournament.
Nicholls St. Colonels (+1600)
The Colonels are 18-13 on the season and finished Southland Conference play with a 13-5 mark. The biggest problem is Nicholls State was a combined 1-5 against the top three teams listed. The Colonels did defeat Texas A&M Corpus Christi, but lost to Lamar and McNeese St. twice.
Nicholls St. might be a little better offensively than it gets credit for. The Colonels are a solid team from the field, but get hit a little bit in the efficiency ratings due to being poor on the offensive glass. Nicholls is No. 2 in 3-point field goal percent and No. 3 in the conference on 2-pointers.
The Colonels don’t make a whole lot of turnovers and have a couple of nice players in Jamal West and Diante Smith.
On defense, Nicholls St. is No. 1 in 3-point defense, but No. 8 in 2-point defense. The Colonels allow teams to shoot 51% on 2-pointers, but just 31% on 3-pointers. Nicholls doesn’t force a lot of turnovers, but holds its own on the boards.
Who to Bet On?
Betting massive favorites to win conference tournaments isn’t the best long-term wagering philosophy, but it’s hard to go against McNeese St. in this one. The odds are certainly high, although it’s a case of finding value. A betting odds calculator will show the price of -240 on the Cowboys yields an implied probability of 70.59%.
Basically, if you think McNeese St. has a better than 70.59% chance to win the Southland Conference Tournament, you have some value there.
The actual odds of the Cowboys winning the tournament are probably closer to 75-80%, so McNeese isn’t that bad of a wager at the 2024 Southland Conference odds of -240. There simply isn’t any value on Corpus Christi, Lamar or Nicholls St., so take the favorite in this one.
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