Dean Etheridge
Number two ranked NCAA men’s Basketball team, the Houston Cougars host Norfolk State in at the Fertitta Center on Tuesday, and here we preview the matchup in our latest NCAAB betting picks.
The Cougars have had a flying start to the season. They currently sit top of the American Athletic Conference with six wins from six matches. Tuesday’s opponents, Norfolk State, sit top of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, with a 5-2 record.
The two teams are both on winning runs, Houston have six wins in a row, while Norfolk State have won their last three.
Despite being ranked two, Houston are still the betting favorites to win the 2023 NCAAB Championship. Kelvin Sampson’s team are +800 with the best college football betting sites to win the Championship for the first time in their history.
Last season Sampson’s team made it far as the Elite Eight, where they lost to Villanova. This year they will not only be hoping, but also expecting to go further in the postseason NCAA Tournament.
| NCAAB Tournament Winner Betting 2023 |  |  |  |
| Houston Cougars | +800 | +800 | +800 |
| Texas | +1200 | +1200 | +1200 |
| Baylor | +1400 | +1400 | +1400 |
| Kentucky Wildcats | +1400 | +1400 | +1400 |
| Gonzaga | +1500 | +1500 | +1500 |
| Arizona | +1600 | +1550 | +1600 |
| UNC | +1800 | +1600 | +1500 |
| Creighton | +2000 | +2000 | +2000 |
Elsewhere in the betting to win the 2023 Championship, Houston are followed by Texas at +1200, and 2021 champions Baylor, who along with Kentucky are both +1400. Pre-season favorites, Gonzaga are now out to +1500 with some of the best NCAAB sportsbooks. This comes after some disappointing performances, which included an 84-66 home defeat to Purdue last weekend.
Final from Portland
Zags 66 – Purdue 84 pic.twitter.com/PimA5MWeE3
— Gonzaga Basketball (@ZagMBB) November 26, 2022
Houston vs Norfolk State
Onto Tuesday’s match, and for the Cougars, surely it’s a case of more of the same please. Six played, with six won, is just the start they would have wanted and expected.
In those six games, the Cougars are yet to play against a team currently in the top 25, but all you can do is beat the opponents in front of you. And that’s exactly what Kelvin Sampson’s talented team has done.
Kent State made the Cougars work for latest win
Saturday’s 49-44 win over Kent State wasn’t the most fluid though. It was one of those matches that Houston could have lost on another night. The Cougars are closing in on the number one ranking, and they did at times look like they were playing with other things on their minds.
But thanks in the main to Marcus Sasser’s 19 points, they did enough to earn the victory.
COOGS WIN!
presented by @thejointchiroWheeewwww!@JwanRoberts13 | 11 pts | 14 rebs@m_sasser0 | 19 pts | 5 rebs | 2 asts#ForTheCity x #GoCoogs
NEXT – vs Norfolk State, 7 pm TUESDAY, Fertitta Center pic.twitter.com/WavnvEQjst
— Houston Men's Hoops 🏀 🐾 (@UHCougarMBK) November 26, 2022
Prior to the win over Kent State, the Cougars were also a bit scratchy in their second game on the road, a 66-56 away to the Oregon Ducks. But like all good teams do, they still managed the wins even when not at their best.
- What; NCAA Basketball
- Who; Houston Cougars vs Norfolk State Spartans
- Where; Fertitta Center, Houston, Texas
- When; Tuesday, November 29th, 2022
- Time; 8 pm ET
As for the Spartans, they’ve got an overall record of 5-2. Their last outing was at home to St. Mary’s Seahawks, who they defeated 91-41 last week. This was the first outing of the season for the Seahawks, and as the result suggests, it’s fair to say it showed.
Road trip wins help Norfolk build some momentum
On the road, Norfolk are 2-2. The two defeats came away to top 25 ranked sides. They first lost to Baylor 87-70, and then away to UCLA 86-56. The two wins came at Monmouth, 64-59, and at Alabama A&M, 89-83, and these are the two wins that have created the momentum that sees Robert Jones’ side come into this fixture on the back of three straight victories.
But as the results against Baylor and UCLA show, when the Spartans come up against top 25 ranked opposition, they struggle. So are things going to be any different this time round?
Cougars vs Norfolk State Betting odds and Picks
The betting suggest not, as Norfolk State are being given 24 points on the handicap, and there isn’t even a moneyline available on the match with some sportsbooks. I have seen odds of -125000 on a Houston win with one sportsbook, but in general, most aren’t giving odds.
With a start of +24, Norfolk State is -110. Houston are also -110 from a starting position of -24.
Houston are 4-0 at home this season and will want to keep that winning streak going, and it looks a pretty safe bet they will. The question with regard to our NCAA college basketball betting picks, is will they beat the handicap spread?
In their four home matches this season, the Cougars have won by points margins of 5, 35, 38, and 47. The most recent was the 5 points margin. I think overall that suggests there is a good chance that the Cougars will cover the handicap and therefore I make Houston to win on the handicap my betting pick.
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On the Total Points spread, BetOnline have set the mark at 126. Houston’s six matches have seen that total beaten on three occasions, with three coming in under 126. In Norfolk State’s matches, the total has been beaten on six of seven occasions.
I’m going to follow the statistics in this market and go for over 126 points for my second betting pick on this match.
