The Houston Cougars (6-0 overall, 1-0 AAC) visit the UCF Knights (3-1, 1-0) in a Saturday matinee (1 p.m. ET) at Addition Financial Arena in Orlando. Below, we analyze the Houston-UCF college basketball betting odds and lines, with picks and predictions.
Houston is ranked No. 7 in the Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports.
Houston at UCF: Betting odds, spread and lines
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 8:50 a.m. ET.
- Money line: Houston -350 (bet $350 to win $100) | UCF +280 (bet $100 to win $280)
- Against the spread/ATS: Houston -7.5 (-110) | UCF +7.5 (-110)
- Over/Under: 135.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
Houston at UCF: Three things to know
- Houston was an NCAA Tournament Sweet-16 team in 2018-19, and HC Kelvin Sampson has had the Cougars program humming along as a top-25 team the last four years. Over that stretch, Houston is 44-11 in American Athletic Conference play. The Cougars play in their second conference tilt Saturday; they defeated Temple, 76-50, on Tuesday.
- UCF has defeated Auburn, Florida State and Cincinnati. The Knights’ win over FSU was on the road, and it snapped a 27-game home winning streak for the Seminoles. Central Florida’s win over Cincinnati Tuesday was propelled by a 25-point game from G Brandon Mahan. UCF’s 6-foot-5 senior leads the team in scoring this season with 22.5 points per game.
- The Cougars won last year’s meeting, 78-63 (Jan. 3). UH out-rebounded UCF, 43-34, in covering a nine-point spread. Since 2017, Houston is 5-1 against the spread vs. UCF. In four of those wins, the Cougars covered by six points or more.
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Houston at UCF: Odds, betting lines, predictions and picks
Prediction
Houston 72, UCF 63
Money line (ML)
Consider going perhaps against the grain fading UCF a bit and knocking UH in this holiday away game, which marks the Cougars’ first true road game of the season. The Knights have perhaps outkicked their coverage in logging a 37.5% rate from 3-point-land thus far. (They were a bottom-150 team from distance a year ago).
The tag here is a fair one: BACK THE COUGARS -350.
Against the spread (ATS)
Figure on the Cougars outscoring the Knights at the charity stripe. Throw in UH being better at both ends of the floor and being a superior test for every facet of the UCF offense.
THE LEAN IS ON HOUSTON -7.5 (-110).
Over/Under (O/U)
Can’t peg enough of a lean either way here: PASS.
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