SE Missouri St. vs. Texas A&M-CC First Four Prediction: March Madness Odds
The Islanders opened as 4-point favourites on the March Madness odds.
SE Missouri State vs. Texas A&M First Four Point Spread and Betting
The winner of this South Region game will lose to No. 1 overall seed Alabama in the first round on Thursday.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, from the Southland Conference, makes its third all-time NCAA Tournament appearance and second in a row. The Islanders list in the First Four last year to Texas Southern 76-67. Southeast Missouri State, from the Ohio Valley Conference, makes its second trip to the Big Dance and first since 2000. It lost by three to LSU that year.
This is the first-ever meeting between the programs.
SE Missouri St. Redhawks
At 19-16 overall, Southeast Missouri has its first winning season in nine years. It finished fifth in the OVC regular-season standings but then won four games in four days in the conference tournament, capped by an 89-82 OT win over Tennessee Tech in the title game. The Redhawks were the first No. 5 seed to win that tournament. Chris Harris was named tournament MVP, averaging 20.3 points over the four. Phillip Russell joined Harris on the Ohio Valley Conference All-Tournament Team. Both also went over 1,000 career points scored this season and both were named regular-season all-conference. Of Southeast Missouri’s 2022-23 roster, only two players were born the last time the Redhawks made the NCAA Tournament in 2000. The Ohio Valley Conference is 27-73 all-time in NCAA Tournament games. SE Missouri State is 4-0 ATS in its past four.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders
The Islanders’ Steve Lutz was named the Southland Conference Coach of the Year as Texas A&M-CC won the regular-season title and then beat second-place Northwestern State 75-71 in the conference tournament title game, erasing a 16-point first-half deficit. After the break, the Islanders shot 68 per cent from the field even though Southland Defensive Player of the Year and all-conference first-team selection Terrion Murdix left the game due to injury just three minutes in. Not clear if he will play Tuesday. Murdix is 15th in the country in steals (2.3 spg) and 24th in assists (5.4 apg). Jalen Jackson had a season-high 17 points to go with six assists take up much of Murdix’s slack and was named SLC Tournament MVP. Second-team all-conference Trevian Tennyson leads the team in scoring at 15.7 points per game on the year. A&M-CC is 10-3 ATS its past 13 games.
