Houston At Cincinnati Odds, Betting Pick & TV Info

The regular season in college basketball comes to a close this week, after which we will have the conference tournaments, all of which gets us primed for March Madness. The final couple of games for each team will help decide who they will face when conference tournament play gets started, and it looks quite clear, for the most part, how the American Conference is going to shape up. It’s going to come down to either SMU or Cincinnati for the top spot, as the rest of the pack are in a position where that cannot run those two down. The Bearcats are a game back of SMU, and need to win out if they are to take the top spot. They will have a tough go of it on Thursday night when they welcome in the Houston Cougars, a team currently occupying the number 3 spot in the American Conference. Cincinnati should be the NCAA basketball odds favorites, but this is by no means a slam dunk game for them.

A Closer Look At The Cougars At Bearcats Odds, Betting Pick & TV Info

When: Thursday, March 2 at 7 PM EST Where: Fifth Third Arena, Cincinnati TV: ESPN2 Live Stream: Watch ESPN NCAAB Odds: TBA    

Why bet on the Houston Cougars

Houston (20-8, 11-5) are a team very much in form, as they only have a single loss in their last 8 games, that one coming at the hands of SMU. The Cougars put up a game battle the last time they faced Cincinnati, although they did end up going down 67-58. That loss came at a time when the team was struggling, losing 4 of 5 during that stretch. They look to have found their footing since then, which means there is a good chance that they will put up a better fight this time around. They have certainly been decent on the road this season, going 6-4 straight up and 5-5 ATS. It would not be a huge shock to see them eke out the win here.

Why bet on the Cincinnati Bearcats

There are a lot of reasons why the Cincinnati Bearcats (35-4, 14-2) would be a good bet here, and it all starts with the fact that they are a perfect 17-0 in their own building this season. The bad news is that their second conference loss came in their last outing, a surprise road defeat to UCF. The question now is how they are going to rebound from that, especially since they know that this defeat may well prevent them from running down SMU at the top of the conference. This is a much better team at home, though, so it’s perhaps a good thing that they will be back in their own building after a tough loss. The Bearcats are 8-6 ATS when playing at home.

Expert Pick and Final Score Prediction

I think this one will be a little closer than the last meeting between these two, based solely on the fact that the Cougars are playing much better ball right now. I still think Cincinnati will come away with the win, though.

Houston Cougars 65 Cincinnati Bearcats 71