The Texas Southern Tigers and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders kick off the 2022 NCAA Tournament when they square off Tuesday in the opening First Four game at the UD Arena in Dayton, Ohio. Texas Southern (18-12) earned an automatic berth in the Tournament by routing Alcorn State in the SWAC tournament final, while Texas A&M-CC (23-11) did the same by defeating Southeastern Louisiana for the Southland Conference tournament title. The winner will become the No. 16 seed in the Midwest Region and face No. 1 Kansas in the first round on Thursday.

Tip-off is set for 6:40 p.m. ET. Caesars Sportsbook lists the Tigers as 3.5-point favorites in the latest Texas Southern vs. Texas A&M-CC odds while the over-under for total points scored is 136. 

Before making any Texas A&M-CC vs. Texas Southern picks or college basketball predictions, you NEED to see what expert Larry Hartstein has to say.

A former lead writer for Covers and The Linemakers, Hartstein combines a vast network of Vegas sources with an analytical approach he honed while working for Pro Football Focus. Larry has dominated college basketball, going 245-193-8 ATS for a profit of $3,205 over the past two seasons.

In his last 118 against-the-spread picks in college basketball, Hartstein is an outstanding 71-44-3, returning $2,261 to $100 bettors. Anyone who has followed him is WAY UP.

Texas Southern is making its fourth appearance in a First Four game and has won its last two. After losing in overtime to UNC Asheville in 2003, the Tigers defeated North Carolina Central in 2018 and Mount St. Mary's last year. Texas Southern is led offensively by senior forwards John Walker III and Joirdon Karl Nicholas, who are averaging 9.9 and 9.2 points, respectively.

Texas A&M-CC is participating in the NCAA Tournament for just the second time in program history. The Islanders' previous appearance was in 2007, when they suffered a 76-63 loss against No. 2 seed Wisconsin in the first round of the Midwest Regional. Junior forward Isaac Mushila is averaging a team-high 13.5 points while junior guard Trevian Tennyson is scoring 11.8 points per contest for Texas A&M-CC.

Now, Hartstein has locked in another confident against-the-spread pick for Texas Southern vs. Texas A&M-CC. We can tell you that he's leaning Under the total, but he knows a crucial X-factor that makes one side of the spread a MUST-BACK! You ABSOLUTELY need to see what it is before locking in any picks of your own.

Who wins Texas Southern vs. Texas A&M-CC on Tuesday? And what critical X-factor makes one side of the spread a must-back? ... Join SportsLine right now to see which side of the Texas A&M-CC vs. Texas Southern spread to jump on, all from the expert who's an outstanding 71-44-3 on his last 118 college basketball picks!