Welcome back to another Sunday of college basketball picks and predictions. It’s the final day of the regular season while mid-major conference tournaments are in full swing. Let’s find some winners as we dive into three intriguing matchups.
The Atlantic Sun championship game between Lipscomb and North Alabama headlines our college basketball picks today. Plus, we dish out predictions for Houston Christian vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the Southland Conference tournament and then an American Athletic Conference matchup featuring North Texas vs. Temple.
Note that all betting lines are accurate as of this writing, but shop around for the best odds. Enjoy these college basketball picks and predictions for Sunday, March 9’s game Houston Christian vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
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Sunday's Best College Basketball Bets: Houston Christian vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
(Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook)
Houston Christian vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
The Southland Conference tournament gets underway today. Let's focus on one of the league's first-round games as fifth-seeded Texas A&M-Corpus Christi takes on eighth-seeded Houston Christian. The matchup points to one side winning comfortably.
Houston Christian barely snuck into the Southland's postseason bracket after going 9-11 in conference play. The Huskies went just 2-8 straight up and 3-7 ATS over the final 10 regular-season games as well. Their only victories in the past month came at home against New Orleans and Stephen F. Austin - two of the league's worst teams.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, meanwhile, went 12-8 in league play with double-digit victories in both of its last two games - including a 33-point win last time out. The Islanders have been one of the Southland's top squads over the past few years. They recently earned the conference's auto bid in 2022 and 2023.
On that note, Corpus Christi should come in extra motivated after losing in overtime to go one-and-done in last year's conference tournament. That was despite a 14-4 conference record as the Southland's second-best team behind McNeese State. The Islanders will be dialed in after falling flat a year ago.
Texas A&M-CC is the conference's best at scoring inside, shooting 53.3% from two-point range. Meanwhile, Houston Christian ranks 11th in the league and 313th nationally in two-point defense, per KenPom. The Huskies also allow two-pointers at the third-highest rate in the entire country while the Islanders rely on two-pointers at the sport's sixth-highest rate.
Simply put, Corpus Christi prefers to score inside and it's good at it. Houston Christian struggles to defend the paint and funnels scoring inside. It's an ideal matchup for the Islanders' offense to be efficient offensively. The Huskies are also the worst offensive-rebounding team in the conference.
A&M-CC should control the paint, especially with a notable size advantage. Islanders forward Garry Clark is the Southland's best player, according to KenPom, and he can take this game over. Corpus Christi's deep rotation of 9-10 players will also test Houston Christian's thin bench here.
Pick: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi -6.5 (-110)
