Longwood (16) vs. Houston (1) Bracket Prediction: March Madness Odds
The Cougars are massive 23.5-point favourites to win on the college basketball odds.
Longwood vs. Houston NCAA Tournament Point Spread and Betting
The winner of this game faces either No. 8 Nebraska of the Big Ten or No. 9 Texas A&M of the SEC for a trip to the Sweet 16. That winner almost surely will be Houston as only twice all-time has a No. 16 seed beaten a No. 1, although it did happen last year with Fairleigh Dickinson stunning Purdue.
It’s the sixth straight NCAA Tournament appearances for Houston (a school record), which might have been the No. 1 overall seed had it not been destroyed in the Big 12 Tournament title game by Iowa State. This is UH’s first season as a Big 12 team. The Cougars are competing in the 25th NCAA Tournament in school history. Houston is 38-29 all-time at the event with Final Four appearances in 1967, 1968, 1982, 1983, 1984 and 2021. It has never won the national title but is a +600 second favourite this year and +140 favourite to win the South. I like third-seeded Kentucky.
Longwood finished fifth in the Big South regular season and then won the conference tournament with an 85-59 upset over UNC Asheville back on March 10. It’s the second time in the NCAA Tournament for the Lancers. In 2022, they were a No. 14 seed and were blown out in Round 1 by Tennessee. To win the South, Longwood is +25000.
Longwood Lancers (16)
Houston will be the first power conference school that Longwood has played this season. The best team it has faced was likely Dayton of the Atlantic 10 and the Lancers lost by nine on the road. It’s a pretty veteran roster led by seniors in guards Walyn Napper and DA Houston, and forwards Michael Christmas and Jesper Granlund. Napper leads the club in scoring (14.6 ppg), assists (4.6 apg) and steals (1.6 spg). Christmas is second in scoring (11.5 ppg) and leads in rebounding (6.2 rpg). Before coach Griff Aldrich arrived in 2018, Longwood had one winning season since 2004-05 — when it became a Division I school. Aldrich just finished his third consecutive winning season. He was an attorney and oil tycoon before he took the job. The Lancers had one stretch this season where they lost 10 of 12 games.
Houston Cougars (1)
Houston impressively won the Big 12 regular-season crown in its first season in the league and was No. 1 in the polls for a while but clearly has a matchup problem with Iowa State as the Cyclones beat Coach Kelvin Sampson’s team in the regular season and then by a shocking 28 in the conference tournament final on Saturday to snap UH’s 11-game winning streak. The Cougars lead the country in scoring defence (57.0 ppg), field goal percentage defence (37.9) and turnover margin (+7.1) and stand among the Top 10 in scoring margin (+16.1, 3rd), winning percentage (88.2), steals per game (10.0, 7th), offensive rebounds per game (13.7, 10th). Guard Jamal Shead was the Big 12 Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. Sampson was Big 12 Coach of the Year.
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