Posted at 8:00 AM ET. Odds are subject to change

Indiana State +105 ML over SIU-EDWARDSVILLE

Sam M. Vadalbene Center – Edwardsville, IN

7:00 PM ET. Another odd number. If you were to price this using KenPom, the Cougars should be laying four times what they are here with home court factored in. Yet the reigning champions of the rugged Ohio Valley Conference are not even trusted to win by a bucket. Interesting…

Indiana State offers zero market appeal at the present moment. The Sycamores played losing basketball in 2024 under first year head coach Matthew Graves, finishing 14-18. Edwardsville? They went to March Madness for the first time in program history. Two teams trending in opposite directions in the public eye.

The Sycamores opened with a tune-up win against a nobody to start their season. SIUE went to UTSA as a seven point underdog and walked out with a dominant 77-60 win. So, the Sycamores have done nothing to move the needle while the Cougars have shown that there is no hangover after last year’s feat.

When we drop all these ingredients into the pot, the math doesn't add up. Either the bookmakers made a glaring error or they are fully expecting Indiana State to come into Edwardsville and hand the Cougars what most would label a shocking win, even though the number is clued in and tells you this would not be shocking at all.

We are going to roll with what the line is telling us, not what the surface level story looks like. Indiana State for the W.

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