A win by the Houston Cougars against mighty Michigan would pay out $14.50 for every $10 bet. The line on this game was Wolverines -3.5.
Houston is in the Big Dance after a tough loss to the Cincinnati Bearcats but got some sweet redemption by knocking off a very good San Diego State team to advance into the second round.
They had just six losses on the season outright while going an impressive 17-1-1 Against The Spread, compared to 16-13-1 ATS for Cincinnati. They last played in the NCAA Tournament in 2010. Houston’s 26 wins are the most it has had since the 1983-84 team won 32 contests.
Facing off against Michigan will be tough though as this Wolverines team has won ten straight games.
This is a difficult team to prep for and they can go very deep in this tournament. Making matters worse for their opponents, Michigan has an uncanny ability to hit threes.
The Wolverines success this season can be seen in their record Against The Spread (22-11-1). With that being said, Michigan did not play Montana well in the first round so Houston can only hope that is the team that shows up Saturday night.
The Power Ratings indicate a line of -3 so this could be a situation where Michigan wins but fails to cover. We see a close game here.
- Dan Shapiro, Gambling911.com
