Then she opened up a book of poems and handed it to me, written by an Italian poet from the thirteenth century. "Tangled Up in Blue" - Bob Dylan
Mercer Bears
89 – 86
FINAL Conference
Samford Bulldogs
Southern Conference · Hawkins Arena · February 21, 2026
Betting Lines
Spread MER -3.5 Away covered
O/U 156.5 Over
Money MER -185 / SAM +154
Model Predictions
Spread Total MER win
Actual MER +3 175 Won
Massey MER -5.6 (-2.6) — —
Massey Totals — 158.7 (+16.3) —
Bradley-Terry — — 67% ✓
Weighted B-T — — 71% ✓
Baseline Plus ML MER -3.8 (-0.8) 150.3 (+24.7) 69% ✓
Efficiency Plus ML ★ MER -2.9 (+0.1) 148.9 (+26.1) 60% ✓
Baseline Tuned ML MER -3.6 (-0.6) 148.3 (+26.7) 65% ✓
Baseline ML MER -3.1 (-0.1) 150.3 (+24.7) 63% ✓

Predictions use only rating snapshots dated before tip-off. Parenthesised values are the signed error vs. the actual result. Model performance →

Last 5 Meetings

Feb 7, 2026 SAM 69 – 49 MER
Feb 6, 2025 SAM 100 – 79 MER
Jan 16, 2025 SAM 75 – 74 MER
Mar 9, 2024 SAM 70 – 57 MER
Feb 17, 2024 MER 88 – 84 SAM

Team Comparison

Record & Ratings MER SAM
Overall 19-13 18-14
Conference 11-7 11-7
Home 14-1 11-3
Away 5-11 6-9
Neutral 0-1 1-2
Last 5 2-3 5-0
Streak L1 L1
Avg Pts For 80.1 77.8
Avg Pts Against 77.8 77.0
Massey -0.3 (#170) -3.0 (#214)
Bradley-Terry -0.17 (#185) -0.38 (#209)
W. Bradley-Terry -0.23 (#180) -0.55 (#211)
RPI 0.529 (#115) 0.503 (#169)
Shooting & Four Factors MER SAM
FG% 45.4% 44.3%
3PT% 35.1% 34.2%
REB / G 36.4 35.7
OREB / G 12.0 9.1
AST / TO 1.22 1.55
Four Factors — Offense
eFG% 52.4% 52.1%
TOV% 15.1% 13.2%
ORB% 33.3% 25.5%
FT Rate 28.2% 29.9%
Four Factors — Defense
Opp eFG% 53.0% 51.5%
Opp TOV% 17.3% 12.9%
DRB% 67.9% 74.0%
Opp FT Rate 21.4% 24.3%

Game Analysis

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