2005 Season Summary
The South Alabama Jaguars finished the 2004-05 season with a record of 10-18 straight up, which included a Sun Belt Conference record of 6-9, as they finished in a fourth place tie in the league’s West Division.
Against the spread, the South Alabama Jaguars fared little better as they ended up with a record of 11-13 against the college basketball gambling lines, as they failed to get the cash in six of their final ten games of the season. The South Alabama Jaguars were bounced in the first round of the Sun Belt Conference tournament with a 57-60 loss to Florida International as 2.5-point chalks.
One of the most intriguing and challenging features of handicapping mid-major teams such as South Alabama and conferences such as the Sun Belt is that there are plenty of worst to first stories and vice versa. Improvement and decline can often happen in the blink of an eye at the mid-major level and that is why college basketball gamblers have to have flexible minds when looking over such material.
South Alabama Jaguars Promising Start
South Alabama began the 2005-06 season with an unlined 84-46 home win over Spring Hill. In their lined opener at Purdue in their next game, the Jaguars lost 67-85 as 7.5-point dogs in a disappointing show. Back off the board and at home against Alabama State, the South Alabama Jaguars scored an 82-65 victory.
Back on the board and on the road at Loyola-Marymount, the Jaguars scored an 81-80 overtime win and cover as 5.5-point dogs. That was followed by a 55-52 home win over Samford as 6.5-point overlays. The South Alabama Jaguars then got back on track against the board with a 75-51 win at Southern Mississippi as 3-point chalks.
A pair of unlined games followed starting with an 81-71 win at Louisiana-Monroe, which was followed by a 75-78 loss at Alabama State. The Jaguars then scored an 81-59 home win over Western Michigan as 7-point chalks to complete a promising start of 9-2 straight up and 4-2 against the college basketball board.
Brief dip South Alabama Jaguars
South Alabama had impressed many in the college basketball gambling community with that solid start, which caused them to suffer a brief dip in board value beginning with a 69-87 loss at Tennessee as 12.5-point dogs, which was then followed by an 88-84 home win over Troy as 10-point overlays.
Back in black
The Jaguars didn’t stay down long, however, as they got back on track with a 61-51 win/cover at Louisiana-Lafayette as 6-point dogs. That was then followed by a 60-57 win at New Orleans as 2.5-point chalks and then a 75-63 home win over Middle Tennessee State as 6.5-point chalks. The Jaguars finished this stretch back in black with a fourth straight payoff in the form of a 73-74 loss/cover against Western Kentucky as 1.5-point dogs.
After a 60-69 loss at Denver as 2.5-point dogs, the South Alabama Jaguars bounced back with a pair of payoffs starting with an 89-67 win at North Texas as 1.5-point dogs, followed by a 65-58 win at Arkansas-Little Rock as 1-point dogs to improve their run to 6-1 against the spread.
South Alabama Jaguars Out of steam
The South Alabama Jaguars had continued to draw favorable attention from the college basketball gambling masses but starting with a 78-69 home win over Arkansas State that they failed to cover as 10-point chalks, they began to run out of steam. The Jags then lost at home to Louisiana-Lafayette 53-59 as 7.5-point overlays and then failed to cover an 81-71 win over New Orleans as 12-point home overlays.
Roaring back
South Alabama did not stay down for long, however, as they won and covered their final four regular season games at Troy, at Florida Int., and then home games against Denver and North Texas. They then went on to win and cover all three Sun Belt tourney games, which placed them in the NCAA tourney where they lost SU&ATS to Florida.