History: The SWAC is traditionally fodder in the NCAA Tournament, but their conference tournament is filled with history. Texas Southern has three straight championships and seven in the last nine years. Their streak of success has allowed them to overtake Southern for the most titles in history (11-9).
In 2013, Southern played Gonzaga within six in a 16-vs-1 contest. The last time a SWAC team won a main-bracket game (not a First Four game) was in 1993, when Southern defeated Georgia Tech in a 13-vs-4 matchup, setting up a rare 12-vs-13 second-round game. George Washington won that game.
Returning Champion: Texas Southern
Despite their dominance in recent conference tournaments, the 2023 squad was seeded 8th (last). They knocked off #1 Alcorn State, #5 Alabama A&M, and #2 Grambling State to punch their NCAA Tournament ticket. As a 20-loss team, they went to the First Four, where they lost to the FDU squad that went on to beat Purdue.
Format: Eight of the 12 schools make the field. Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Prairie View A&M, Florida A&M, and Mississippi Valley State missed the cut.
Favorite: Grambling State (17-14, 14-4)
Many teams in this conference have less-than-inspiring W-L records. The reason is they tend to play tough non-conference slates. In the case of Grambling State, they lost to Colorado, Iowa State, Dayton, Washington State, Florida, and Drake. Their world improved when they got to conference play, where they finished the season on a 6-1 run to catapult themselves to an outright championship. The offense is not their thing, but they are decent defensively. They are shooting for their first NCAA Tournament appearance.
Contenders: Alcorn State (14-17, 13-5), Texas Southern (14-15, 12-6), Southern (18-13, 12-6)
Live Long Shot: Alabama A&M (10-21, 9-9)
Preview:
I limit the number of contenders, but any of these eight teams should feel as if they can win this.
Alcorn State enters the tournament on a 9-game winning streak, though they did lose their only matchup with Grambling State. Their last NCAA appearance was in 2002. While Grambling is about defense, the Braves are better offensively. They average 72.2 points, with senior forward Jeremiah Kendall contributing 16 points and 6.7 rebounds.
Texas Southern will never be counted out. The Tigers’ top four scorers are seniors, with PJ Henry averaging 15.3 points. Most of their non-conference losses were by colossal margins, but they did play Drake within six on the road. They picked up the pace late, going 5-1 in their last six games.
Southern earned some credibility in the non-conference, defeating UNLV and Mississippi State on the road. Perhaps seen as a favorite to win the title after those wins, the Jaguars slipped late. They went 2-4 in their last six games. That slump followed a 7-game winning streak. Part of their slump was due to the loss of guard Tai’reon Joseph, who averaged 20.5 points in 19 games. Suffice it to say, a mid-major losing this level of a star will struggle.
Alabama A&M will play Alcorn State in the 7-vs-2 matchup. They played once this season, a 74-71 win for Alcorn State.
Bottom Line:
This tournament can go in any direction. Southern would be my team with Joseph, but they won’t have him. I think a team earning their first NCAA Tournament bid is fun.
Winner: Grambling State