2025 Southern Conference Basketball Tournament

On Friday, March 7th, the SoCon tournament gets underway in Asheville, North Carolina. Chattanooga enters this year’s tournament as the No. 1 seed, and the Mocs are also the betting favorites to win this thing for the first time since the 2021-22 season. However, this conference features six teams that can really play, with UNC Greensboro, East Tennessee State, Samford, Furman and Wofford all being rock-solid teams. That said, as far as some of the smaller conference tournaments go, this should be a good one. With that in mind, keep reading for a SoCon tournament betting preview, complete with darkhorses, players to watch and a pick to win.

How to Watch the Southern Conference Tournament

When: March 7 – 10

 

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Where: Harrah’s Cherokee Center in Asheville, NC

Format: Top six seeds get byes to the quarterfinals

Watch: ESPN+, ESPNU, ESPN; Championship Game on ESPN on Mar. 10 at 7 p.m. ET

College Basketball Odds | College Basketball Betting Splits | Greg Peterson’s Daily Lines | Steve Makinen’s Power Ratings

Southern Conference Tournament Bracket

Southern Conference Tournament Seeds, Teams and Odds

1. Chattanooga Mocs (+270)
2. UNC Greensboro Spartans (+380)
3. East Tennessee State Buccaneers (+600)
4. Samford Bulldogs (+330)
5. Furman Paladins (+750)
6. Wofford Terriers (+500)
7. VMI Keydets (200-1)
8. Mercer Bears (75-1)
9. Western Carolina Catamounts (250-1)
10. The Citadel Bulldogs (250-1)

(Odds from DraftKings Sportsbook accurate at time of publish)

Favorite To Win Southern Conference Tournament

Chattanooga went 15-3 in SoCon play this season. The Mocs also finished the regular season on an 11-game winning streak, and that’s a stretch that included a 12-point road win over second-seeded UNC Greensboro and two wins over third-seeded ETSU. It’s just hard to make a case that anybody in this conference can consistently play at the same level as Chattanooga, and a lot of that has to do with the way the Mocs play offensively. They’re 50th in adjusted offensive efficiency at KenPom, tied for 50th at EvanMiya and 54th at Bart Torvik. Chattanooga is 10th in the nation in 2PT% (58.1%), 48th in 3PT% (36.6%) and 47th in 3PT rate (45.8%). The Mocs do a great job of playing Moreyball, getting up good looks from deep or getting easy shots at the rim. Their offense will make them extremely tough to beat this week, but their mediocre defense could give some opponents chances.

Southern Conference Tournament Darkhorse

Furman is the fifth seed in this conference, but the Paladins are going to like their chances this week. Since January 15th, Furman is actually second in the conference in Bart Torvik’s efficiency rankings. In that span, the Paladins have the second-best offense in the conference, and they’re also just a few points per 100 possessions off the second-best defense. So, this Furman team is playing some good basketball on both ends of the floor. Furman has also earned wins over some of the teams seeded higher in that stretch, including East Tennessee State and Samford (twice). We have also seen Furman play Chattanooga close. The Paladins lost by four when they hosted the Mocs on January 18th. And they also played Chattanooga close in a road game on February 8th, but the Mocs pulled away with 10 minutes left in the second half. But all in all, this Furman team has either won or been a runner-up in two of the last three SoCon tournaments, and the Paladins will always have a chance when PJay Smith Jr. is on the court. At 17.2 points per game, he’s second in the conference in scoring. Smith is a very dangerous shooter, knocking down 3.3 shots on 8.1 attempts per game from 3. He’s also plenty capable attacking the rim. He’s one of the few players in this conference that nobody wants to see on the other side.

Players to Watch in Southern Conference Tournament

As previously mentioned, Furman’s Smith is awesome. He actually had 32 in a road win over a good Samford team on February 19th, and his ability to put the ball in the hole is truly special. He’s also joined in the backcourt by Nick Anderson, who is averaging 14.1 points per game and shoots 45.2% from the floor, 38.6% from 3 and 88.9% from the line. This is one of the best guard duos in the conference, which makes it hard not to like Furman as a darkhorse.

The leading scorer in the conference plays for East Tennessee State, as Quimari Peterson is putting up 19.5 points per game. If the Bucs are going to do anything special this week, Peterson is going to have to play out of his mind. But you definitely can’t rule it out. Peterson has scored at least 25 points on seven different occasions this year, and he even had a 31-point performance in a close loss against Chattanooga on February 15th. Peterson is also a pretty good rebounder for a 6-foot-1 guard, and he’s also capable of setting teammates up. When you can defend like East Tennessee State and have a scorer like Peterson, you’re going to be a tough out in a tournament setting. Peterson is actually first in the SoCon in BPM. He’s a hooper.

For Chattanooga, Honor Huff, Bash Wieland, Trey Bonham and Frank Champion all average in double figures. Champion is the best of the bunch when it comes to BPM, and Wieland isn’t far behind. But all of those guys can play, which is why the Mocs are so dangerous. However, it is worth noting that Huff has a DBPM of -2.4. He’s very attackable for opposing guards, which is a big part of the reason why other teams will feel like they can upset Chattanooga.

Samford has a couple of extremely impressive players. Rylan Jones, who has been playing college basketball for 40 years, sits atop the conference with a BPR of 4.88 and OBPR of 4.25. He’s an unbelievable decision maker as the point guard position, and his presence is a big part of the reason the Bulldogs are as good as they are offensively. Trey Fort and Jaden Brownell are also superb offensive players, and the latter is actually second in the conference in BPM. While Jones and Fort make up the backcourt for Samford, Brownell is a 6-foot-9 wing that can score in a number of different ways. But he’s especially dangerous from 3.

One last player worth highlighting is Kenyon Giles, who is averaging 15.7 points per game for a good UNC Greensboro team. The Spartans are the No. 2 seed in this tournament, and Giles’ play is a big part of that. Back on January 9th, he had 26 points in a road win over Chattanooga. He might be undersized as a point guard, but he’s a good shooter and can get to the basket. UNC Greensboro has a legit three-headed monster in the backcourt, but Giles is the guy. He’s third in the conference in BPM.

Betting Pick to Win The Southern Conference Tournament

While Chattanooga’s offensive efficiency is very impressive, Samford is also a top-100 team in offensive efficiency for both KenPom and Bart Torvik. The Bulldogs are also better than the Mocs by a pretty wide margin on the defensive end. That said, at a slightly better price, I’d actually roll with Samford to get the job done in the SoCon tournament. Our VSiN Power Ratings have Samford and Chattanooga with identical PR’s of 74.0, and the Bulldogs actually beat the Mocs at McKenzie Arena this year. So, I like the idea of taking the better number on what might actually be the better team — especially with Samford having a highly experienced backcourt. The Bulldogs are also the best 3-point shooting team in the conference at 37.0% as a group. In fact, they’re 37th in the nation in that regard. Backing a team that can shoot the 3 like that is always fun.

Makinen Power Ratings for Southern Conference

  • Single-digit favorites in the opening round of the Southern Conference tournament are on a 21-8 SU and ATS (72.4%) run since 2011.
  • The Southern Conference tourney semifinals are on a 15-7 Over the total run (68.2%).

More Steve Makinen Conference Tournament Betting Trends.

Check out the other previews in our 2025 College Basketball Conference Tournament Betting Guide.

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