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2009 SWAC Men’s Basketball Tournament Predictions

Written March 10, 2009 by Jason Lowry

SWAC Basketball

The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Men’s Basketball Tournament starts this Wednesday, March 11 and while it might statistically be the worst conference in the nation, the winner of this tournament still gets an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Only the top 8 teams make it into tournament play, so both Alcorn State and Grambling are done for the 2009 season. Alabama State finished up on top of this division, and will be the favorite heading into the tournament, but expect plenty of competition from Jackson Sate, who finished up just 1 game behind them in conference play. Here is a look at my 3 favorites to win this tournament, plus a sleeper that I think could win a couple games and possibly wind up winning the whole thing. Bet SWAC Basketball Tournament at Bookmaker.com.

1. Alabama State Hornets (19-9, 16-2 SWAC)

The Hornets cruised through the regular season, and one of teams that beat them (Alcorn State) won’t even be part of tournament play. The Hornets only other loss in conference play came on the road to Jackson State, but that was just a 3 point loss, and the Hornets beat them by 6 earlier in the season. The Hornets open up action against Alabama A&M, a team they beat by 44 points this season. The Hornets are led by Trant Simpson, who averages a team best 15.6 points per game, but also get some good play out of Cornelius Hester and Casey Cantey.

2. Jackson State Tigers (16-14, 15-3 SWAC)

The Tigers are playing some really good basketball heading into the tournament, as they won 11 of their final 12 games, including that big win over Alabama State. The Tigers head into the tournament on a 3 game winning streak, and are set to take on Texas Southern in their first round action of the SWAC tournament. The Tigers won both meetings against Texas Southern this season, and I expect this team to have no problem with them on Wednesday, and I look for this team to be in the finals against Alabama State when this tournament is all said and done.

3. Prairie View A&M Panthers (16-15, 12-6 SWAC)

The Panthers are winners of 5 of their final 6 games, and while they struggled against Alabama State this season, they did have some success against Jackson State, including a 70-59 win back in the middle of January. The Panthers will need a great team effort if they want to win this tournament, as they really don’t have a go to guy. Darnell Hugee is the leading scorer at just 12.3 points per game, but the Panthers have 4 other players averaging between 9-10 points per game.

Sleeper: Arkansas Pine Bluff Golden Lions (12-17, 11-7 SWAC)

The Golden Lions are the No.4 seed in this tournament, and in my opinion they are the only other team besides the top 3 that have any chance of winning this tournament. The Golden Lions had just one win against the top 3 teams, but every loss was close and this team showed it can play with these teams if given the chance. The Golden Lions are led by junior guard Terrance Calvin, who leads the team with 12.6 points per game, and also chips in 3.7 assists and 5.6 rebounds a game.

Prediction: Alabama State Hornets

For those of you looking to bet on college basketball, be sure to check out our expert NCAA basketball picks and get the latest NCAA basketball odds from Betfirms.

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