South Dakota (-1.5) @ South Dakota St

This installment of the South Dakota Civil War will include high stakes as the winner of will punch their ticket to the big dance.  The Dakotas split the season series with each team taking care of their home court, but now they meet in a neutral arena. South Dakota is home to two of the best mid majors in all of college basketball and may see a team with the state’s name with an upset victory in the round of 64.  The number two seed Coyotes are (26-7, 11-3) on the season, while the number 1 seeded Jackrabbits are (23-6, 11-1). Both of these teams are the best in the Summit and both have the talent to make a cinderella run in the NCAA tournament. This is going to be an amazing matchup, nationally televised on ESPN2.

South Dakota St

The South Dakota St. Jackrabbits come into this game as the top team in the conference and are lead by the white mamba himself, Mike Daum. The 6’9″ stretch forward is a mid major treasure who is averaging 23.5 points and 9.1 rebounds per game while shooting 41% from three point range.  Daum is a national treasure and is absolutely must watch TV.  SDSU freshman guard David Jenkins has added a legit second scoring option to Daum (15.8 ppg on 41% shooting), too, making this year’s team even stronger than last year’s tournament contestants. There are not many mid major programs that present the star power of the Jackrabbits.

South Dakota

The Coyotes are a very well coached team and there is not a single aspect of basketball that this doesn’t do well. South Dakota ranks 40th in scoring offense and 47th in scoring defense. They also rank in the top 60 in both offensive and defensive efficiency. The Coyotes have 8 different players that can efficiently score the basketball and have multiple players that guard multiple positions, so they switch on ball screens really effectively. The Coyotes beat South Dakota St 87-68 at home, but dropped the meeting in the second game 76-72, despite a valiant run in the final minutes to cut down a 15 point deficit by the Coyotes. Matt Mooney leads the Coyotes in scoring with 17.7 points per game while Todd Hagadone is a 6-10 junior forward who can bang in the post averaging 13.8 points and 6.8 rebounds. However, South Dakota will need Hagadon’s elite defense more than anything since he allows just .446 ppp, which grades out in the 96th percentile nationally. Hagadone vs Daum is the matchup to watch.

Betting Preview:

Despite South Dakota St. being the No 1 seed, the number 2 seed South Dakota team is the favorite in this matchup on a neutral court. South Dakota was able to cut down a double digit lead in the final minutes at South Dakota St. and they present matchup problems for the Jackrabbits’ key players. This is why the sharps have moved the line from South Dakota St. -1 to South Dakota -1.  In a huge game of this magnitude, I’m going with the more consistent team and rolling with South Dakota -1.