The No. 12 seed in the Midwest, the McNeese State Cowboys (27-6) begin their pursuit of a Cinderella-run in March against the No. 5 seed, the Clemson Tigers (27-6). The Cowboys won the Southland Conference. The Tigers lost to Louisville in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament.
Clemson was the only ACC school to defeat Duke this season. The Tigers won nine in a row prior to their loss to Louisville. Unfortunately, the loss to Louisville included more than an expulsion from the ACC Tournament. During the game, Dillon Hunter broke his hand. He is out for the duration of Clemson’s run in the NCAA Tournament. He was averaging over 20 minutes per game. His brother, Chase Hunter, leads the Tigers in scoring averaging 16.4 points per game.
Winners of the regular season and tournament titles in the Southland Conference, McNeese State has had to deal with injuries as well. Expected to be a substantial contributor in the scoring column, Alyn Breed (knee) has not played since very early this season. In two games, Breed averaged 17.5 points per game. In his absence, Javohn Garcia has stepped up to lead the Cowboys in scoring averaging 12.9 points per game.
The winner of this game earns the right to play the winner of the Purdue vs. High Point game.
Lets dive into the matchup and offer some information and possibly a sweat or two.
We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on the how to catch the opening tip, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
Game details & how to watch McNeese State vs. Clemson
- Date: Thursday, March 20, 2025
- Time: 3:15PM EST
- Site: The AMP
- City: Providence, RI
- Network/Streaming: truTV
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Game odds for McNeese State vs. Clemson
The latest odds as of Tuesday courtesy of BetMGM:
- Odds: McNeese State Cowboys (+275), Clemson Tigers (-350)
- Spread: Tigers -7.5
- Total: 134.5 points
Expert picks & predictions for McNeese State vs. Clemson
NBC Sports Bet Best Bet
Vaughn Dalzell (@VmoneySports) expects defenses to reign supreme in this one: Game Total UNDER 134.5
“Both of these teams play at two of the 25 slowest tempos in the country with Clemson ranking second slowest, so I don’t expect many points. The Tigers are my sleeper to make the Final Four this season and they have plenty of veteran leadership and returners from last year’s Elite 8 team that lost to Alabama. I think Clemson advances and McNeese State struggles to reach 60 points.”
Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the NCAA calendar based on data points like past performance, player matchups, injuries, and the schedule.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for Thursday’s Cowboys & Tigers game:
- Moneyline: NBC Sports Bet is staying away from a play on the Moneyline.
- Spread: NBC Sports Bet is leaning towards a play ATS on the Clemson Tigers -7.5.
- Total: NBC Sports Bet is leaning towards a play on the Game Total UNDER 134.5.
McNeese State vs. Clemson: Top betting trends and recent stats
- McNees State has won 11 in a row but has covered the spread in just 4 of the 11
- Clemson has failed to cover the spread in 3 of their last 4 games (20-11 for the season)
- This is the first meeting between these schools
- McNeese State Head Coach Will Wade is a graduate of Clemson University as is his assistant Vernon Hamilton
If you’re looking for more key trends and stats around the spread, moneyline and total for every single game on the schedule today, check out our NCAA Basketball Top Trends Tool on NBCSports.com!
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Follow our experts on socials to keep up with all the latest content from the staff:
· Jay Croucher (@croucherJD)
· Drew Dinsick (@whale_capper)
· Vaughn Dalzell (@VmoneySports)
· Brad Thomas (@MrBradThomas)
