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The college basketball season is quickly approaching, and the Action Network staff is knee deep in preseason prep.
We're going through previewing the major conferences and talking about teams that are overvalued or undervalued.
I'll soon be putting out my offensive philosophy/tempo change article, which will outline teams that are projected to be drastically changing their style of play for this upcoming 2026-27 season.
A key element of betting in collegiate athletics that gets talked about a lot in college football, but not enough in college basketball, are the scheduling spots.
This article is going to cover some of the wild non-conference schedules featured in the SWAC, a league known for teams loading up buy-games to fund their respective programs. So, let's dive into these college basketball situational spots.
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Bethune-Cookman Wildcats
The Wildcats open their season against Furman in a neutral site game in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, as part of a stretch where 16 of its first 17 games will be played away from home.
A non-conference home game against non-D-I Paine University is the only home game Bethune will play over the first 10 weeks of the season.
The travel is insane, as the Wildcats will go from Sioux Falls to Lubbock, TX, to Phoenix, AZ, to San Diego all in the first 10 days of the season.
I'll specifically look to fade Bethune on the road on November 7 at Grand Canyon.
Another congested part of the schedule features road trips to Iowa, North Texas and Florida State in a five-day span shortly before Christmas.
The offense is likely to struggle against the defensive schemes of Iowa and North Texas, but the wheels might come off in a road trip to Florida State. I'll look to fade Bethune during this stretch.
Southern Jaguars
The travel schedule is viscous for Southern University this season as well.
While not as extreme (see three home games against non-D-I competition), the early-season stretch features five games the first 10 days of the season.
Southern will open its season at SMU and will play TCU a couple days later. A Midwest trip features games at Drake, Iowa State and Minnesota before heading home.
The Jaguars are really going to struggle on the interior early in the schedule, and I worry about Southern’s ability to rim-protect.
Depth in the post will cause this team to struggle early in non-conference play, and this should show up on Tuesday, November 10, when Southern visits Iowa State. I'm going to seek to fade Southern in this spot and possibly at Minnesota.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions
The Golden Lions experienced significant roster overhaul last offseason, and head coach Soloman Bozeman worked wonders in getting this team to 10-8 in SWAC league play.
Bozeman will have to work magic again to get this bunch to perform at a level anywhere close to that in 2026-27.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff uses a four-guard lineup, and there's a real chance this defense gets torched in the early-portion of the non-conference schedule, where the Lions are going to rack up a lot of travel reward points.
An opening game at Arkansas is a spot for both teams to get up-and-down, and I'll target betting the over in that matchup. Three days later, UAPB will be on the road at Baylor. A west coast trip features games against UCLA, Cal-Baptist and USC.
Pine Bluff will not play a home game against a D-I opponent until conference play in mid-January. I'm going to seek to fade this group against high-powered offenses that want to get up-and-down the court.
A trip to USC stands out to me, as UAPB will be on its third game in five days and could be a real spot where the Lions are out of gas.
After facing Saint Louis, a trip to Texas A&M and having to face the Bucky McMillan press-and-trap system could spell trouble.
This team will likely be completely out of gas during a trip to Murray State, and I'll seek to face Pine Bluff specifically during this stretch.
Alcorn State Braves
The Braves couldn't secure rebounds last season, and the team struggled with interior defense regularly inside and outside of SWAC play.
The coaching staff worked to elevate the interior beef in the paint, but a lot of the talent is unproven.
The size was addressed, but Alcorn doesn't have a proven ball handler that can break press, and we still don’t know where the scoring will come from on a nightly basis.
There will be an abundance of early-season tests away from home as Alcorn State plays 13 of its first 14 games on the road, with its only home date against MEAC champion Howard on November 5.
Three games in five days at Murray State, Tarleton State and Missouri provide tough schematic challenges. Back-to-back games against Louisiana Tech and Texas State in an MTE event in Ruston, LA, precede two road trips to Georgia Tech and Iowa State.
Thanksgiving will be spent in hotel rooms, and the list of opponents faced is going to test the mindset of this team before it prepares for SWAC play.
The highlighted stretch of these four games in eight days includes brutal travel to Kentucky, Texas, Maryland and Missouri.
Murray State pushes the pace with an adjusted tempo that placed it 11th fastest in the country last season, and Tarleton State is also projected to play a lot faster this year.
After squaring up against these two in track meets, Alcorn State could really struggle against Maryland and Missouri.
This is a stretch to watch, and potentially fade Alcorn State.
Jackson State Tigers
The Tigers are no stranger to whacky travel spots, but this schedule is almost as bad as it gets in major Division I college basketball.
Jackson State is breaking in a new coach, as Trey Johnson takes over at his alma-mater 20 years after he was a star for the last Jackson State team to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
The Tigers played relatively fast last year while also having one of the least effective defensive teams in the league. I don’t see either of those things changing this year.
The first 15 games of the season are on the road, and their schedule will regularly feature up-tempo teams that could put up huge point totals.
Jackson State will play five games over a 13-day stretch, but the highlighted stretch comes after the Tigers get beat up on the road against Mississippi State and Southern Miss.
Having to run-and-gun with Winthrop and Baylor will likely prove too much, and I'll seek to fade Jackson State in these spots.
Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils
Head coach Mike Davis has his work cut out for him this season as the talent, NIL and program momentum are at an all-time low here at Mississippi Valley State.
The Delta Devils have struggled badly for years, and this roster is really limited in its experience and Division I star power.
This isn't going to be a quick fix for Davis, and progress will be hard to measure at times.
The schedule does these guys no favors either, as MVSU will play its first 16 games of the year on the road.
Some of the spots are absolutely brutal, including a three-game west coast trip featuring games at Washington, Oregon and Oregon State.
Road games at Michigan, UConn, New Mexico and Ohio State are equally daunting, but scheduling Texas Tech and Baylor on back-to-back evenings is where I'm looking to fade MVSU. Both of these games should result in 40-point losses, or worse.
This is a bad team with a brutal schedule, and this combination will lead to betting opportunities.
