Can Texas Southern Make It Four SWAC Tourney Titles In A Row?
The 2024 SWAC Odds Favor Alcorn State To Earn the March Madness Invite

Expect the Unexpected When the 2024 SWAC Tourney Gets Underway
Last year’s Texas Southern team has left a tough act to follow for the teams taking part in the SWAC men’s basketball tournament after winning the 2023 event as the No. 8 seed. The 2024 SWAC odds have Texas Southern as one of four teams between +275 and +450 in the title odds.
Alcorn State takes a nine-game winning streak into the tournament and the NCAA basketball odds have Alcorn State as the favorite at +275 to win the title followed by Southern University at +300, regular-season champion Grambling at +325, and Texas Southern at +450.
Alcorn State and Southern were a combined 19-9 against the spread as favorites during the regular season.
The tournament gets underway at Bartow Arena in Birmingham, Alabama on Wednesday when Alabama A&M faces Alcorn State at 3 p.m. ET followed by the Alabama State-Grambling matchup at 9:30 p.m. in the first two quarterfinals.
Grambling and Alabama A&M are tied for the SWAC lead with six outright wins when listed as the betting underdog this season. That is something to consider when betting on NCAA basketball action in this tournament. Alabama State is 3-0 in neutral-site games this season.
Keep on reading for more on the 2024 SWAC tournament.
A Look At the SWAC Contenders
It could be the defending champions against the top seed in one of the semifinals.
Texas Southern won five of its last six games to secure the No. 4 seed in the tournament as the Tigers go after a fourth-straight SWAC tournament title.
The Tigers have won three NCAA tournament games, all coming against fellow No. 16 seeds in the First Four games. They have been a No. 16 seed in seven of their last eight March Madness appearances.
Grambling is the top seed despite losing its regular-season finale in overtime against Alabama State.
Southern University is just 2-4 in its last six games while Alcorn State has won nine games in a row so keep that in mind when it comes to the 2024 SWAC odds.
Breaking Down The Schedule
While many conferences allow each NCAAB team to take part in the postseason tournament, the SWAC field includes eight of the conference’s 12 teams.
The team left out of the party was Arkansas Pine Bluff as a two-game losing streak to end the regular season left Golden Lions tied with Alabama State for eighth place in the SWAC standings. Alabama State won 83-72 on Jan. 8 as a 1.5-point road favorite. Pine Bluff won the rematch 80-74.
Alabama State outscored Pine Bluff by five points in the two games and that was enough to give the final tournament slot to Alabama State.
When looking at the 2024 SWAC odds, No. 2 seed Alcorn State is favored in the first of four quarterfinals against Alabama A&M and then top-seeded Grambling takes to the court versus Alabama State.
The other two semifinalists will be determined on Thursday when Jackson State faces defending champion Texas Southern at 3 p.m. Bethune Cookman and Southern will play at 9:30 to complete the semifinal field.
The Bethune Cookman-Southern winner will be right back at it in the first of the two semifinals on Friday. The championship game is at 9:30 p.m. ET on Mar. 16 and it will air on ESPNU.
It Is Madness or Sadness in the SWAC
There is nothing quite like the intensity of a tournament in a one-bid conference.
Only the Northeast Conference, Patriot League, and MEAC have lower conference RPIs than the SWAC so only the tournament champion will be a part of the March Madness bracket.
Southern University has the best NCAA NET ranking among SWAC teams as the Jaguars come in at No. 249 thanks to a pair of Quad 1 wins. Texas Southern is next at No. 280 followed by No. 290 Alcorn State, No. 293 Grambling, and No. 294 Jackson State. That is something to remember when it comes to the NCAA basketball odds.
Texas Southern was a No. 16 seed in the 2023 March Madness bracket and lost to Fairleigh Dickinson in the First Four game.
Texas Southern won its First Four game as a No. 16 seed in 2022 against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and topped Mount St. Mary’s in a First Four game in 2021.
Ready For Some Madness?
Seeing Texas Southern win the tournament as a No. 8 seed is an indication that anything can happen in the SWAC tournament.
Alabama A&M, the No. 7 seed, has the best record among SWAC teams of 18-13 against the college basketball spread followed by Alcorn State at 17-13. They happen to be playing each other in the quarterfinals.
Alcorn State leads the conference with 17 games going over the total while Arkansas Pine Bluff has seen the highest percentage of games land over the total.
When it comes to the NCAAB player props and parlay options, keep in mind that Jackson State’s Ken Evans leads the SWAC in scoring at 18.9 points per game. Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s Joe French has 109 3-pointers while Southern’s Tidjiane Dioumassi is the conference leader in assists.
With the way Alcorn State is playing right now, it is hard to pick against the Braves but never count out Texas Southern.
For NCAAB betting news, odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.