Texas Southern vs Fairleigh Dickinson Prediction, Odds & Best Bet for March 15 NCAA Tournament Game

Texas Southern vs Fairleigh Dickinson Game Info

• 2022-23 NCAA Tournament Game
• Texas Southern (14-20) vs. Fairleigh Dickinson (19-15)
• Date: Wednesday, March 15, 2023
• Time: 6:40 p.m. ET
• Venue: UD Arena -- Dayton, Ohio
• Coverage: truTV

The 2023 NCAA Tournament continues with a First Four game between the No. 16 Farleigh Dickinson Knights and No. 16 Texas Southern Tigers on Wednesday. Farleigh Dickinson is making its seventh appearance in the big dance, while Texas Southern is back for the 11th time ever and third year in a row.

Farleigh Dickinson fell short in the Northeast Conference title game to Merrimack, but the Warriors are ineligible for the big dance due to NCAA Transition Rules. Meanwhile, Texas Southern captured the Southwestern Athletic Conference title as the No. 8 seed after upsetting the No. 1 & No. 2 seed.

Texas Southern vs Fairleigh Dickinson Odds & Spread

• All college basketball betting lines, odds and prop bets are from FanDuel Sportsbook.
• Moneyline: TX SOU: (-146) | FDU: (+122)
• Spread: TX SOU: -2.5 (-114) | FDU: +2.5 (-106)
• Total: 145.5 -- Over: (-115) | Under: (-105)

Texas Southern enters this contest as a small favorite on the moneyline and spread per FanDuel Sportsbook's odds. This 6:40 p.m. ET clash also features an over/under of 145.5 points, which is above average compared to the First Four's projected totals.

Texas Southern vs Fairleigh Dickinson Betting Trends

• Texas Southern has beaten the spread 11 times in 32 games.
• The Tigers have an ATS record of 4-12 as 2.5-point favorites or greater.
• Texas Southern has played 32 games this year, and 13 of them have gone over the total.
• Against the spread, Fairleigh Dickinson is 13-19-0 this season.
• Against the spread as 2.5-point underdogs or greater, the Knights are 6-6.
• Out of Fairleigh Dickinson's 32 games so far this year, 19 have hit the over.

Texas Southern Rank	Texas Southern AVG		Fairleigh Dickinson AVG	Fairleigh Dickinson Rank
233rd	69.4	Points Scored	77.8	41st
227th	71.6	Points Allowed	74.9	311th
50th	34.1	Rebounds	31.2	221st
52nd	10.1	Off. Rebounds	10.2	43rd
357th	4.7	3pt Made	8.1	92nd
291st	11.7	Assists	15	50th
335th	14	Turnovers	11.1	101st

Texas Southern vs Fairleigh Dickinson Prediction & Pick

It's not often that teams with at least 15 losses make their way to the tourney, but either Farleigh Dickinson or Texas Southern is going to get the chance to play the Purdue Boilermakers on Friday. These teams line up similarly on the offensive end, which makes diving into the defensive side crucial.

The Knights rank 298th in defensive efficiency this season and are allowing an opponent shooting percentage of 48.4% (No. 350 in NCAA), while the Tigers rank 121st in defensive efficiency and are allowing an opposing shooting percentage of 43.5% (No. 137 in NCAA). That's a noticeable gap.

Texas Southern also rosters players that have been in this spot before, so back the Tigers to win.

Final Score Prediction: Texas Southern: 75 | Farleigh Dickinson: 70

Texas Southern vs Fairleigh Dickinson Best Bet

It's important to not put too much thought into the records here. Texas Southern is a subpar 14-20 on the year, but it has won three straight games against the top teams in its conferencee. It has allowed only 60.3 points per game over that span, which ranks as the 28th-best mark in the entire country.

Texas Southern has found its defensive groove and is making its third straight NCAA Tournament appearance. That experience should not be overlooked as head coach Johnny Jones knows what it takes to compete at this level. The Tigers are a great 16-3 straight up in their last 19 games in March.

Bet: Texas Southern Tigers -2.5 (-114)

Larry Rupp is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Larry Rupp also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username phillyfan424. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel. 

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.