Big South Championship Game Preview: No. 1 Winthrop vs. No. 3 Campbell for NCAA bid

The No. 1 Winthrop Eagles will face the No. 3 Campbell Camels in the Big South Championship Game on Sunday, with a berth in the NCAA Tournament on the line.

In a normal year Winthrop (22-1, 17-1 Big South) would have a case for an at-large to the NCAA Tournament with a 22-1 record, the only setback being a 57-55 loss to UNC Asheville who they had beaten the day before. The Eagles won this tournament in 2020 as well, and are the host for this event. Senior Chandler Vaudrin is their go-to guy, and he’s been under this pressure before and will look to lead a team with plenty of upperclassmen.

Campbell (17-9, 11-6) is rounding into shape at the right time, and are a contrast to the much faster Eagles. The No. 3 Camels knocked off No. 2 Radford yesterday, and have gotten this far without sharpshooter Jordan Whitfield giving them much. He’s only 1-7 from downtown in the tournament, and they’ll need some points from him if they’re to hang around with a heavily-favored Eagles team playing at home.

Game Time/TV Channel/Streaming

You can watch No. 1 Winthrop vs. No. 3 Campbell on Sunday, March 7 at 12:00 p.m. ET on ESPN, or you can stream it via the ESPN app with a cable or streaming service login. If you don’t have a cable login to access the ESPN app, you can get a free trial from YouTube TV, Hulu with Live TV, AT&T TV Now, FuboTV, or Sling TV to stream it.

Point Spread, Totals, Odds, Trends

Point spread: Winthrop -11.5
Point Total: 142.5
Money line: Campbell +540, Winthrop -835

Notes

• Winthrop is one of the paciest teams in college basketball, averaging 74 possessions a game which is 12th in the NCAA.
• The Eagles are ranked 99th nationally via KenPom, while Campbell is the next-closest team in the Big South at 201st.
• The Camels have played twice in the Winthrop Coliseum this season, losing 84-83 on December 30th, and 94-76 on New Year’s Eve.

The Best Bet

Campbell is playing much better basketball as of late, knocking off a Radford team 78-60 yesterday that had beaten them twice during the regular season. They’ve won nine in a row, and will try and slow the ball down and control possessions. Which makes a double-digit spread just a smidge too high.

The Pick: Campbell +11.5

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