The No. 3 Houston Cougars (4-0) battle the Oregon Ducks (2-1) Sunday. Tip from Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene is at 9:30 p.m. ET (ESPN). Below, we analyze Tipico Sportsbook’s lines around the Houston vs. Oregon odds, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and bets.
Rankings courtesy of the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.
35,38, 26, 47. Those are not the power ball numbers, those are the margins of victory for the Cougars in their first 4 games. In 3 of these games, Houston scored exactly 83 points, and in the other? A measly 81 against St. Josephs on a neutral court. Houston has a stellar offense to complement its shut-down defense, and it will take the Cougars a long way.
After losing a shocking 69-56 game to UC-Irvine on Nov. 11, the Ducks bounced back with an 81-51-win Tuesday over the Montana State Bobcats. Not only would this be a difficult game for Oregon against a Houston team hitting on all cylinders under normal circumstances, but the Cougars will be extra motivated as a win Sunday could vault them to No. 1 in the next rankings after huge performances this far in the early slate.
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Houston at Oregon odds
Provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 9:18 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Off the board
- Against the spread (ATS): Houston -7.5 (-105) | Oregon +7.5 (-115)
- Over/Under (O/U): 133.5 (O: -105 | U: -115)
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Houston at Oregon picks and predictions
Prediction
Houston 75, Oregon 58
Moneyline
Off the board at the time of publishing.
Against the spread
BET HOUSTON -7.5 (-105).
Houston has been destroying teams during the early season. Oregon is a better team than the others the Cougars have faced, but it is still not near Houston’s level.
The Cougars are not perfect — no team is. However, this far into the season, they are the closest to perfect of any team in the country. They will continue their early season reign of terror Sunday and beat Oregon by margin. HOUSTON -7.5 (-105) is my favorite play.
Over/Under
PASS.
Oregon is 1-3 Over/Under while Houston is 1-3 O/U. Houston can score but its suffocating defense will not allow others to get many points on the board.
With the 55 points to St. Joe’s being the high mark for opponents against Houston, it will take an enormous undertaking for Oregon to get this game Over the 133.5 number posted. I don’t think 80 points is in the cards for Houston nor do I feel 60 is in the cards for Oregon. So, I lean towards the Under, but I would rather make my entire play on the spread.
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