Furman vs. East Tennessee State College Basketball prediction, preview
Furman came into the SoCon Tournament as the 6-seed and has made an impressive run to the championship game. The Paladins opened 2.5-point underdogs in the final against top-seeded ETSU, but the number has been bet down to near a pick’em. I disagree with the move on the game, and think the price has gotten short enough to back the slight favorite.
ETSU earned the No. 1 seed in the conference during the regular season, and feels disrespected in this spot. ETSU beat Furman twice in February, as a 5.5-point home favorite, and then handily at a 1.5-point road underdog. The Buccaneers matchup well with the Paladins, and I don’t expect them to overlook an opponent they’ve beaten twice with a trip to the NCAA Tournament on the line.
Most metrics sites have this in the range of a two to five-point ETSU victory. I felt somewhere in the middle of those projections was the worthy spread on this game, with Furman around a 3.5-point underdog. I’ll back the top-seeded Buccaneers to defeat the Paladins for a third time in six weeks and represent the SoCon in the Big Dance next week.
