The American Athletic Conference has been an intriguing league this season with three teams from there making it to the AP Poll Top 25 as recently as last week. Among them are the No. 12 Houston Cougars and the No. 20 Cincinnati Bearcats, who will be in a must-watch matchup this coming Saturday for what could be the final determiner of the ACC regular season championship. NCAA futures currently price Houston with +4000 odds and Cincinnati with +10,000 odds to win the National Championship.
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Betting Preview for the Houston Cougars vs. Cincinnati Bearcats College Basketball Game on March 10, 2019
Where: Fifth Third Arena at Shoemaker Center, Cincinnati
When: Sunday, March 10, 2019, 9:00 PM ET
Line: Houston Cougars (odds) vs. Cincinnati Bearcats (odds) – view all NCAA Basketball lines
TV Broadcast: ESPN
Betting on the Houston Cougars (27-2 Overall / 14-2 Conference)
The shock from 69-64 home loss to the UCF Knights must have to ware off for the Cougars, but regardless of what happens in their game against the SMU Mustangs this Saturday, they will be 100 percent focused on beating Cincinnati in its lair. The Cougars have already defeated the Bearcats this season, taking down Mick Cronin’s boys at home last month, 65-58. Houston’s defense clearly made life hard for the Bearcats, who got nine of their shots swatted by the lengthy Cougars. Houston prides itself in defense, as it is fifth in the nation with just 60.8 points per game and second with teams recording just 42.6 effective field goal percentage against the Cougars. Houston is a lethal offensive team, too, as it is ranked first in the conference with 113.6 point per 100 possessions. The Cougars are deadly from distance with a 38.2 3-point shooting percentage.
Houston is spread-bettor friendly when it plays away from home, as the Cougars are 8-2 against the spread (ATS) this season on the road.
Betting on the Cincinnati Bearcats (25-4 Overall / 14-2 Conference)
Like the Cougars, Cincinnati wants to punctuate its conference play schedule on a positive note. The Bearcats will face UCF this Thursday first before a one-day rest and a Saturday showdown at home against Houston. The Bearcats check pretty high on offense and defense in the conference. In fact, they are second in both offensive efficiency and defensive efficiency. They can dominate the glass, especially on the offensive end of the floor. They are No. 1 in the AAC in offensive rebounding percentage, and it showed in the first meeting with Houston in which the Bearcats grabbed 19 offensive boards to 13 by the Cougars. Still, the Bearcats need to be more aggressive beneath the glass, having been outrebounded by Houston, 42-36. Jarron Cumberland has proven he can be a problem for Houston after scoring 27 points in the loss to the Cougars, though, he needs ample support, as only one other Bearcat reached double digits in points in that game. Cumberland is averaging 18.6 points per game.
Cincinnati is 10-0 straight up (SU) in its last 10 games as the home team, but is just 3-7 ATS over that stretch.
Writer’s Prediction
Cincinnati wins, 63-62.
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