Northern Kentucky vs. Houston Bracket Prediction: March Madness Odds
The Northern Kentucky Norse will look to become just the second No. 16 seed in the history of the NCAA Tournament to win a game when they face the No. 1 seeded Houston Cougars on Thursday night in Birmingham, Alabama.
The Cougars opened as heavy 18.5-point favourites to win on the college basketball odds.
Northern Kentucky vs. Houston NCAA Tournament Point Spread and Betting
The winner of this game will face the winner of the earlier game, No. 8 Iowa vs. No. 9 Auburn. There has only been one 16 vs. 1 upset in the history of the NCAA Tournament. No. 16 UMBC blew out No. 1 overall seed Virginia by 20 points in the 2018 tournament before losing to Kansas State in the second round. The UMBC-Virginia game was easily the biggest upset in tournament history.
Northern Kentucky is fairly new to Division 1, not becoming a full D-1 member until 2016. They’re 0-2 in their two previous tournament appearances in 2017 and 2019. The Norse have been a solid cover option lately, going 7-1 against the spread in their last eight games.
Houston comes in as the No. 2 overall seed in the tournament and likely would have taken the top seed if they hadn’t lost the AAC Tournament title game. In 23 previous tournament appearances, they have put together a 36-28 overall record. The Cougars’ best tournament result is finishing as back-to-back runner-ups in 1983 and 1984. Last year, they bowed out in the Elite Eight as a No. 5 seed. Houston is 1-5 ATS in their last five games.
These teams have never met as Division 1 opponents.
Northern Kentucky Norse (16)
Northern Kentucky (22-12) enters the tournament on a five-game win streak, including a 63-61 victory over Cleveland State in the Horizon League Tournament title game. The Norse are averaging 68.2 points per game, ranking 273rd in the country. Defensively, they allow 63.6 ppg, good for 28th in the nation. Free throw shooting has been an area of concern as they nail just 69.2 per cent of their chances from the charity stripe.
Marques Warrick leads the offence with 19.1 ppg. The top four players in the rotation are all connecting on at least 33 per cent of their shots from beyond the arc and Northern Kentucky is shooting 35.3 per cent from three-point range as a team. This is expected to be a slower pace game from both teams, so even if the Norse don’t win the game, they have a chance to cover the number if they continue to hit deep shots.
Houston Cougars (1)
Houston (31-3) dominated division play with a 17-1 record. An upset loss against Memphis in the AAC Tournament title game snapped a 13 game win streak for the Cougars. They’re averaging 75.0 ppg for the year, ranking 101st in the country. They’ve been dominant on defence, holding opponents to just 56.5 ppg which ranks second in the nation. Houston has been average from the charity stripe, cashing in on 71.9 per cent of their chances.
Marcus Sasser (17.1 ppg), Jarace Walker (11.1), J’Wan Roberts (10.4) and Jamal Shead (10.3) are all averaging double digit points. The big question for this game is Sasser’s availability. The Cougars’ leading scorer suffered a groin injury in the semifinals of the AAC Tournament and missed the title game. He’s listed as questionable but was reportedly close to playing last game. Even if Sasser does play, it’s fair to question how many minutes he’ll get if this game turns into a blowout.
