Fairleigh Dickinson vs. Texas Southern First Four Prediction: March Madness Odds
There are two more First Four games of the NCAA Tournament from Dayton on Wednesday, with the first matchup featuring No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson vs. fellow No. 16 Texas Southern.
Texas Southern is a 2.5-point favourite to win on the college basketball odds.
Fairleigh Dickinson vs. Texas Southern First Four Point Spread and Betting
The winner of this East Region game faces Big Ten champion and East No. 1 seed Purdue in the first round on Friday.
Texas Southern, from the SWAC, is in the Big Dance for the 11th time and third straight year. The Tigers beat fellow No. 16 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the First Four in 2022 and then were routed by No. 1 and eventual champion Kansas. In 2021, Texas Southern beat Mount St. Mary’s in the First Four and then was routed by No. 1 Michigan in the first round.
Fairleigh Dickinson, from the Northeast Conference, is in the NCAA Tournament for the seventh time overall and first since 2019 when it beat Prairie View A&M in the First Four and then got clobbered by No. 1 Gonzaga.
It’s the first meeting between these programs.
Fairleigh Dickinson Knights (16)
FDU enters as a conference tournament champion yet also off a loss. How’s that possible? The Knights lost to Merrimack 67-66 in the NEC Tournament title game, but Merrimack is still transitioning to Division I and thus ineligible for the NCAA Tournament, so FDU got the bid simply by reaching the tournament title game.
Guard Demetre Roberts was named first-team All-NEC during the regular season, fellow guard Grant Singleton to the second team and forward Ansley Almonor named Most Improved Player and third-team All-NEC. Roberts leads the team in averaging 16.7 points per game. FDU leads the NEC in scoring by far at 77.8 ppg. The Knights are 2-10 ATS in their past 12 neutral-site games.
Texas Southern Tigers (16)
Texas Southern has a 14-20 overall record but played a murderous non-conference schedule, all away from home. The Tigers were 7-11 in SWAC regular-season play but won three conference tournament games in three days, capped by an 61-58 upset of Grambling in the title game. Davon Barnes averaged 17.3 points and connected on 68 per cent of his shots inside the arc across the three SWAC Tournament victories. He led the team in the regular season in averaging 13.6 ppg.
Joirdon Karl Nicholas was a second-team All-SWAC regular-season pick, averaging 10.7 points and 8.9 rebounds with nine double-doubles. Texas Southern tends to thrive in March, now 26-8 in that month under coach Johnny Jones, a one-time LSU head coach. TSU is 8-18 ATS in its past 26 games.
