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Illinois vs Houston prediction, NCAA Tournament Second Round game preview, how to watch, lines, and why each team might – or might not – win on Sunday
Illinois vs Houston prediction: NCAA Tournament Second Round pick and college basketball game preview.
Date: Sunday, March 20
Game Time: 12:10 pm
Venue: PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, PA
How To Watch: CBS
Records: Illinois (4 seed, 23-9)
Houston (5 seed, 30-5)
Region: South
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The CFN expert picks and predictions for the Sunday second round NCAA Tournament games.
NCAA Tournament predictions, college basketball expert picks for the first round Sunday games
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* next to the pick means the team will win, but not cover.
Click on each game for the game preview and CFN Prediction
NCAA Tournament Second Round: Sunday
Illinois vs Houston | Ohio State vs Villanova
Duke vs Michigan State | Wisconsin vs Iowa State
Notre Dame vs Texas Tech | Auburn vs Miami
Texas vs Purdue | TCU vs Arizona
Final Four Picks | NCAA Tournament Schedule
Line: Houston -4.5, o/u: 133.5
Eric Bolin, RazorbacksWire.com: Illinois
Jeff Feyerer, CFN: Illinois
Pete Fiutak, CFN: Houston
Dan Harralson, VolsWire.com: Houston
Jeremy Mauss, MWwire.com: Houston
Big Game Ben Niewoehner, CFN Illinois
Johnny Rosenstein, SportsBookWire.com: Illinois
Nick Shepkowski, FightingIrishWire.com: Illinois
Scott Steehn, WinnersandWhiners.com: Houston*
Clucko the Chicken, CFN: Illinois
CONSENSUS PICK: Illinois
What are the 5 best NCAA Tournament predictions for the first round Friday games?
5 best NCAA Tournament predictions. What are the best bets and plays for the first round Friday games?
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NCAA Tournament Predictions
First Round Schedule, Game Previews, Picks
First Round Experts Picks Friday
NCAA Tournament Top Picks Results: 3-2
– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak
NCAA Tournament predictions, college basketball expert picks for the first round Friday games
NCAA Tournament predictions, college basketball expert picks for the first round Friday games
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* next to the pick means the team will win, but not cover.
Click on each game for the game preview and CFN Prediction
NCAA Tournament First Round: Friday
Ohio State vs Loyola | Auburn vs Jax State
Texas Tech vs Montana State | Purdue vs Yale
Villanova vs Delaware | USC vs Miami
Alabama vs Notre Dame | Texas vs Va Tech
Illinois vs Chatt | Duke vs Cal St Fullerton
LSU vs Iowa State | Arizona vs Wright State
Houston vs UAB | Michigan State vs Davidson
Wisconsin vs Colgate | Seton Hall vs TCU
Final Four Picks | NCAA Tournament Schedule
Line: EVEN, o/u: 132.5
Eric Bolin, RazorbacksWire.com: Loyola
Jeff Feyerer, CFN: Loyola
Pete Fiutak, CFN: Loyola
Dan Harralson, VolsWire.com: Ohio State
Jeremy Mauss, MWwire.com: Loyola
Big Game Ben Niewoehner, CFN Loyola
Johnny Rosenstein, SportsBookWire.com: Loyola
Nick Shepkowski, FightingIrishWire.com: Loyola
Scott Steehn, WinnersandWhiners.com: Loyola
Clucko the Chicken, CFN: Ohio State
CONSENSUS PICK: Loyola
Houston vs UAB prediction, NCAA Tournament First Round game preview, how to watch, lines, and why each team might – or might not – win on Friday
Houston vs UAB prediction: NCAA Tournament First Round pick and college basketball game preview.
Date: Friday, March 18
Game Time: 9:20 pm
Venue: PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, PA
How To Watch: TNT
Records: Houston (5 seed, 29-5)
UAB (12 seed, 27-7)
Region: TNT
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Houston vs Memphis prediction, college basketball game preview, how to watch, lines, and why each team might – or might not – win on Sunday in the American Athletic Conference Championship.
Houston vs Memphis prediction, college basketball game preview, how to watch: Sunday, March 13
Date: Sunday, March 13
Game Time: 3:15 ET
Venue: Dickies Arena, Fort Worth, TX
How To Watch: ESPN
Record: Houston (28-5), SMU (24-7)
– Sign up and live stream college basketball on ESPN+
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Cincinnati vs Houston prediction, college basketball game preview, how to watch, lines, and why each team might – or might not – win on Friday.
Cincinnati vs Houston prediction, college basketball game preview, how to watch: Friday, March 11
Date: Friday, March 11
Game Time: 1:00 ET
Venue: Dickes Arena, Fort Worth, TX
How To Watch: ESPN2
Record: Cincinnati (18-14), Houston (26-5)
– Sign up and live stream college basketball on ESPN+
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Houston vs Memphis prediction, college basketball game preview, how to watch: Sunday, March 6
Houston vs Memphis prediction, college basketball game preview, how to watch: Sunday, March 6
Date: Sunday, March 6
Game Time: 12:00 ET
Venue: FedEx Forum, Memphis, TN
How To Watch: CBS
Record: Houston (25-4), Memphis (18-9)
– Sign up and live stream college basketball on ESPN+
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Houston vs Temple prediction, college basketball game preview, how to watch, lines, and why each team might – or might not – win on Thursday.
Houston vs Temple prediction, college basketball game preview, how to watch: Thursday, March 3
Date: Thursday, March 3
Game Time: 7:00 ET
Venue: Fertitta Center, Houston, TX
How To Watch: ESPN2
Record: Houston (24-4), Temple (16-10)
– Sign up and live stream college basketball on ESPN+
– Today’s Best Bet to Lock in Now
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– All of the CFN Fearless Predictions
The Owls are making a late run with a desperate hope of getting on the bubble – they need this.
They’ve won three of their last four games because of their solid defense that’s allowing under 40% from the field. They’re great at guarding the three, rebounds aren’t a problem, and no on win the AAC takes more free throws.
Houston might have won the first meeting, but the offense struggled in the 66-61 fight. Temple allowed just 4-of-22 from three and stayed in the game late, but …
Temple can’t shoot. Actually, Temple can shoot, but it doesn’t make enough baskets.
It’s a brutal struggle for the Owls to get to 70 points with the inability to do much from three. Throw in the problems on the free throw line – they take them, but they don’t make them – and it shouldn’t take much of a scoring push to get by.
The Cougars are on a nice five game winning streak with the defense ramping up the intensity over the last three games, so …
– Top 25 Game Previews, Predictions
Expect the Cougars to lock this down fast.
Temple’s defense is just good enough to keep this from getting out of hand, but Houston can win the AAC regular season title outright and can take the Memphis game off.
Threes have been a problem for Houston, but it’ll get to the line plenty of times and keep pulling away from the free throw line.
Houston 77, Temple 62
Line: Houston -16, o/u: 131.5
ATS Confidence out of 5: 2.5
5: MLB shorter season
1: No normal Opening Day
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Cincinnati vs Houston prediction, college basketball game preview, how to watch, lines, and why each team might – or might not – win on Tuesday.
Cincinnati vs Houston prediction, college basketball game preview, how to watch: Tuesday, March 1
Date: Tuesday, March 1
Game Time: 9:00 ET
Venue: Fertitta Center, Houston, TX
How To Watch: ESPNU
Record: Cincinnati (17-12), Houston (24-4)
– Sign up and live stream college basketball on ESPN+
– Today’s Best Bet to Lock in Now
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– All of the CFN Fearless Predictions
It’s been a rough run lately with five losses in the last six games, but the defense continues to be solid, the offense is moving the ball around well, and no one in the American Athletic Conference shoots more threes.
It’s going to bomb away. It’s just a question of whether or not a few more shots go in.
The Bearcats only hit four of their 20 threes in the 80-58 loss to Houston back in early February, but that was one of their worst shooting days of the year.
Cincinnati has to somehow keep this close, hit a few more threes to put the pressure on, and get Houston to the free throw line. The Cougars only hit 66% on the line.
However …
Cincinnati hasn’t exactly caught fire offensively since that loss to the Cougars.
Again, its defense is okay, but the shooting has been a disaster from the outside. The O has failed to get past 25% from three in four of the last five games and in seven of the last ten.
Houston isn’t lighting it up outside, either, but it’s making up for it with a whole lot points on the move and a ton of assists and good passes for easy points.
How well are the Cougars moving the ball? They have 20 assists in each of the last two games and lead the AAC overall.
– Top 25 Game Previews, Predictions
Houston is playing better and better at just the right time, and Cincinnati has picked the wrong time to hit a rough patch. Neither trend will stop here.
The Cougars will hit more threes than they did in the first meeting, but they won’t be consistent enough from the inside and won’t be able to match a few quick Houston runs.
Houston 77, Cincinnati 65
Line: COMING, o/u: COMING
ATS Confidence out of 5: COMING
5: Romy
1: Michelle
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