Houston Cougars vs Arizona March Madness Odds, Lines & Picks

We are on to the Sweet 16, and the south region is starting to heat up with great games down the stretch. The Houston Cougars and the Arizona Wildcats meet in San Antonio, Texas, for this matchup. This game is scheduled for a 9:59 p.m. (ET) tip-off. Check out March Madness Odds, analysis, and a free prediction for Houston Cougars versus Arizona Wildcats.

March Madness Sweet 16 Round Betting Analysis: #5 Houston vs #1 Arizona Preview

#5 Houston Cougars versus #1 Arizona Wildcats Overview

Houston comes from the Pittsburgh regional as they beat the UAB Blazers in the first round and the Illinois Fighting Illini in the second round. Defense is what the Cougars are known for, and they made that apparent through two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. Will the Houston defense be able to stop the high-powered offense of Arizona in this Sweet 16 matchup?

Arizona survived a scare against TCU in their second-round matchup in overtime. The Wildcats did not play great but made big plays late in the game to pull out the victory.

Ben Mathurin not only made a three late to send it to overtime but may have the dunk of the year in college basketball. Do we have an upset on our hands with Houston taking on Arizona?

Houston Cougars Notes

As the #5 seed, the Houston Cougars have made it all the way to the Sweet 16. Without their two best players, the Cougars are still defying the odds and proving many people wrong. Many people think that Houston should have been a higher seed with a 31-5 record, but the issue comes with zero quad-one wins for the Cougars this season.

They did have the #2 ranking in the Kenpom system, which is a ranking system that many college analysts and media members look at for ranking teams. They won the American Conference Tournament, which gave the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Marcus Sasser was leading the team through 12 games this season until he got hurt. After Sasser went down, Kyler Edwards has stepped up big time for the Cougars. Edwards averages 13.9 points per game and posted 25 and 15 point performances in two games so far this postseason.

Arizona Wildcats Notes

Arizona has been one of the top teams this season from start to finish. They have a very impressive track record with first-year head coach Tommy Lloyd.

Lloyd took over for Sean Miller, who left after allegations came out for his recruiting scandals. The Arizona Wildcats have moved on from that and have a very special group trying to win a National Championship.

The most unfortunate part for Arizona is many people have not watched their games. Due to the late west coast games during the regular season, it can be difficult for central time zone and eastern time zone viewers to stay up. Most viewers are just now being introduced to one of the most talented players in college basketball in Ben Mathurin.

Mathurin leads the Wildcats in points per game this season with 17.8 on average. It is not all Mathurin, though, as he receives help from Chrisitan Koloko, Azuolas Tubelis, and Kerr Kriisa. All four players are pivotal pieces in the offense for Arizona.

While they have been tested so far, the talent of the Wildcats teams could carry them to a National Championship victory.