2026 SWAC Conference Basketball Tournament Odds & Predictions

The SWAC Conference Tournament is at the Gateway Center Arena in College Park, GA for the second straight year. It was previously held in Birmingham for several years and in various places in Texas prior to that. Scoring was pretty low in last year’s tournament, especially in the later rounds, where the semifinal games and championship game had 126, 121, and 116 points. We’ll see if we get low-scoring games again. This is a very inefficient offensive conference with a lot of poor shooting.

For the first time in a very, very, very long time in the SWAC, every team will participate in the conference tournament. We’ve seen the field thinned by teams not qualifying for the tournament, but also by APR violations, transitional phases to Division I, or postseason bans for other reasons. So, all 12 teams are in the field and the format is different for this year’s event.

How to Watch the SWAC Conference Tournament

When: March 9-14

Where: Gateway Center Arena in College Park, GA (second straight year)

Format: Seeds 9 through 12 play in the first round, seeds 7 and 8 play in the second round, top six get byes to quarterfinals; No. 1 and No. 2 seeds play Wednesday, while No. 3 through No. 6 play Thursday

Watch: ESPN+; Championship Game on TBD on Mar. 14 at 7:30 p.m. ET

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SWAC Conference Tournament Bracket

Coming soon.

SWAC Conference Tournament Seeds, Teams and Odds

1. Bethune-Cookman (+210)

2. Florida A&M (+800)

3. Southern (+320)

4. Texas Southern (+800)

5. Alabama A&M (+900)

6. Arkansas-Pine Bluff (+1000)

7. Jackson State (+4500)

8. Prairie View A&M (+1700)

9. Grambling State (+1200)

10. Alabama State (+2700)

11. Alcorn State (+30000)

12. Mississippi Valley State (+30000)

Current Odds

(odds from Fanduel Sportsbook accurate at time of publish)

Favorite To Win SWAC Conference Tournament

The top dog, well, or top cat, in this conference is Bethune-Cookman. The Wildcats are clearly the best team, as they won three more games than anybody else in the conference. Florida A&M went 2-0 against Southern to snag the No. 2 seed. But, back to Bethune-Cookman, who was the conference’s best defensive team and also led the conference in eFG% offense and defense, plus 2P% offense and defense.

That being said, they were 10th in TO% on offense, 12th in TO% on defense, and 12th in 3P Rate. Those things do limit the margin for error for the team. They took a 3-pointer under 29% of the time, turned the ball over more than 20% of the time, and only had a 16% TO% on defense in a conference where most teams don’t really take care of the ball. They went 14-4 in conference regardless, but five of their wins were by six or fewer points and they lost to Southern and Florida A&M.

SWAC Conference Tournament Darkhorse

The way that this conference tournament is structured keeps the No. 9 seed away from the No. 1 seed until late in the tournament. That’s a very good thing for Grambling. The Tigers are the No. 9 seed and draw easily the weakest team in No. 12 Mississippi Valley State in the first round. With a win there, they’ll play Jackson State, who was the worst defensive team in the conference.

If Grambling wins both of those, they’d play No. 2 Florida A&M, the eighth-ranked team in this conference per KenPom. In other words, a pretty weak No. 2 seed. If – and, yes, there are a lot of ifs here – Grambling can beat Florida A&M, they’ll get a day off before having to play in the semifinals. Given that Grambling was tops in TO%, second in adjusted defensive efficiency, and third in 2P% defense. Three things held them back – a 21% TO% on offense, a 30% 3P% on offense, and a 40% 3P Rate on offense. They had a lot of wasted possessions. If they can shoot a bit in this tournament, they’ll have a shot at a run. The +1200 price isn’t great, but a moneyline rollover will yield a better return.

Betting Pick to Win The SWAC Conference Tournament

While I think Grambling is a fun long-ish shot, the reality is that Bethune-Cookman is the best team in this conference. They had nothing to play for late in the season because they were so far ahead in the standings, so I don’t worry much about the loss to Florida A&M or the close wins over Southern and Grambling.

The reality is that this conference was 29th in TO% in conference play, 28th in 3P%, 30th in FT Rate on defense, and second in tempo, while being 27th in eFG% offense. There are a lot of poor-shooting, turnover-prone teams and that creates a lot of variance. The Wildcats were the best team in the conference during the regular season and should be here as well, plus I like their draw in the top half of the bracket.

Pick: Bethune-Cookman (+210)

Makinen Power Ratings for SWAC

Coming soon.

Coming soon.

Check out the other previews in our 2026 College Basketball Conference Tournament Betting Guide.

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