Game Information
Saint Louis Billikens vs Southeast Missouri Redhawks - regular season opener
Time: 7pm CT Monday
How to watch: FanDuel Sports Network Extra, ESPN+
DraftKings Odds
Spread: SLU -19.5
Total: 150.5
KenPom Projection
SLU 84, SEMO 66
The Saint Louis University Billikens tip off what should be a very exciting season on Monday night when they host the Southeast Missouri Redhawks in the regular season opener for both teams.
The Billikens were picked to finish 2nd in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll just behind VCU. Robbie Avila is a preseason first-team All-Conference selection, as he returns to lead a squad that is much deeper than last season’s team that went 19-15 overall and 11-7 in the A10.
SLU has nine players that could potentially start. Read more in Matthew Rocchio’s outstanding roster breakdown.
The Billikens impressed in the preseason with an unofficial 99-74 win over the Iowa Hawkeyes in a secret scrimmage at Chaifetz Arena on October 11th, and they followed that up with an official 98-77 exhibition victory at the Bradley Braves on October 23rd. SLU starts the season ranked 65th in the country according to KenPom.
The Bills are 14-2 in season openers at Chaifetz Arena, and they are expected to win comfortably against a SEMO team that starts the season at 255th in the KenPom rankings. However, the Redhawks are coming off a terrific 2024-2025 campaign, as they went 21-12 and won the Ohio Valley Conference regular season championship. SEMO was picked 2nd in this year’s OVC preseason poll.
While I’m eager to see what the SLU offense looks like with all of their exciting pieces, I also want to see the Billikens get after the Redhawks defensively. KenPom has SEMO ranked as the 297th best offensive team in the country out of 365 teams. SLU starts the season as the 64th best defensive team in the country according to KenPom, so the Billikens should be able to have plenty of success when defending the Redhawks. The Bills were not good at forcing turnovers last season, but that aspect of their game should be better this year and hopefully we see signs of that on Monday night.
I recommend treading lightly when wagering early in seasons as we wait for data and trends to emerge, but if forced to make a pick, I’d take a shot on SLU to cover the spread. The preseason results were very encouraging, and with as much depth as the Billikens have, they should be able to come at SEMO in waves and pull away in the second half to win by 20+.
Lean: SLU -19.5 at -102 on DraftKings
Eric Sontag hosts Domesticated Gamblers every Wednesday night on the STL Sports Central YouTube channel. Follow him on X @GamblingDads, and click here for his daily picks on all of our St. Louis area sports teams. Get Eric's picks for all sports by following him in the Action Network app with the username "esontag". Disclaimer