Houston-Arizona Sweet 16 betting odds: Wildcats slim favorites
Mar 24, 2022, 1:25 PM
Fabian White Jr. #35 and Kyler Edwards #11 of the Houston Cougars react after defeating the Illinois Fighting Illini 68-53 during the second round of the 2022 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at PPG PAINTS Arena on March 20, 2022 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)
(Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)
The analytic models really like the No. 5 seed Houston Cougars, even against the No. 1 seed in their NCAA Tournament region.
KenPom.com has them as the 10th-best team on offense and defense for the season, and ESPN’s Basketball Power Index has the Cougars with a 60.5% chance of beating the No. 1 seed Arizona Wildcats in their Sweet 16 matchup in San Antonio on Thursday night.
It would not be a shock to see the Cougars upset the 33-3 Wildcats, ending their NCAA Tournament run under first-year coach Tommy Lloyd.
Not helping matters is their recent play: Houston comes off a 15-point win against Illinois, while Arizona needed overtime to hold off a pesky TCU Horned Frogs team in the round of 32 on Sunday.
The odds match up with what could be a toss-up.
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Arizona remains a 1.5-point favorite the morning of gameday, according to the FanDuel sportsbook.
The over/under sits at 146.5, while the moneyline sits at -134 for Arizona and +112 for Houston.
The South Region matchup hast the second-closest odds in the Sweet 16. Only No. 2 seed Duke Blue Devils and No. 3 seed Texas Tech Red Raiders have slimmer odds, with the latter team being the favorite.
Upstarts Saint Peter’s, a No. 15 seed, faces the longest odds as 12.5-point underdogs against the No. 3 seed Purdue Boilermakers.
The only other double-digit matchup is No. 1 overall seed Gonzaga Bulldogs, who are 10-point favorites over the No. 4 seed Arkansas Razorbacks.
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