AAC Tournament Final: Houston Cougars vs Cincinnati Bearcats prediction and college basketball game preview.
Houston vs Cincinnati Broadcast
Date: Sunday, March 14
Game Time: 3:15 ET
Venue: Dickies Arena, Fort Worth, TX
Network: ESPN
[jwplayer EePsPeXs]
– All of the CFN Fearless Predictions
Houston (23-3) vs Cincinnati (12-10) Game Preview
For latest lines and to bet on college basketball, go to BetMGM
Why Cincinnati Will Win
The Bearcats just won’t go away.
They aren’t supposed to be here. They’re not supposed to be a win away from being in the NCAA Tournament. They were supposed to get dropkicked out of this thing by SMU, but the defense was fantastic in the 74-71 win. They were supposed to be rolled by Wichita State, but the D was fantastic in the 60-59 win – helped by hanging on in the final moments.
The D hasn’t been all that great all season, but it’s stepping up when it has to, the team is going against type and hitting its free throws – at least it made a lot of them against SMU – and it’s playing just well enough to keep hanging around.
However …
Why Houston Will Win
Houston is crushing, and then it survived what might just be the nastiest test its going to get for a while – and that might include the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
Memphis had the D and the style to pull of the upset in the semis, but the Cougars hung on in the final moments in a thrilling 76-74 win. They survived by hitting their free throws – the Tigers didn’t – and by doing what they do on the boards.
Memphis gave them problems a week ago, too. Cincinnati? 90-52 Cougars in late February when they came up with 20 more rebounds and nailed everything inside, out, and on the fee throw line.
What’s Going To Happen
It won’t be a repeat of the earlier blowout win, but Houston will step it up just enough to not have to sweat like it did in the semifinals. Cincinnati – again – won’t go away – but it won’t hit its free throws and the Cougars will nail almost all of theirs. That will be enough to stay comfortably ahead late.
Houston vs Cincinnati Prediction, Line
Houston 76, Cincinnati 64
Bet on college basketball with BetMGM
Line: Houston -13.5, o/u: 137
ATS Confidence out of 5: 2.5
Must See Rating: 3
5: Michigan State Spartans
1: MSU Spartans presented by Rocket Mortgage
[protected-iframe id=”361699434b6d70baf15f631ed2408ac1-97672683-92922408″ info=”https://www.googletagservices.com/tag/js/gpt.js” ]