Tennessee vs Houston Odds – Opening Betting Line Favors Cougars in Elite Eight
By Sascha Paruk in College Basketball
Published:
- The #2 Tennessee Volunteers advanced to the Elite Eight with a dominant win over Kentucky
- The Vols will face the #1 Houston Cougars in the Elite Eight on Sunday, March 30
- See the opening Tennessee vs Houston odds, including spread, moneyline, and over/under
The third time was the charm for the #2 Tennessee Volunteers (30-7, 20-17 ATS), who avenged two regular-season losses to SEC-rival Kentucky on Friday night with a resounding 78-65 win. But the road is projected to get tougher from here for Rick Barnes’ squad as they square off with the #1 Houston Cougars (33-4, 19-17-1 ATS) in the Midwest Region Elite Eight on Sunday, March 30, in Indianapolis.
The opening Tennessee vs Houston odds forecast a close game, but it’s the Cougars who have been listed as betting favorites.
Tennessee vs Houston Odds
The opening Tennessee vs Houston odds favor the Cougars by 4.5 points and set Houston as a -225 moneyline favorite. The Volunteers come back as +185 underdogs. The game total is a tournament-low 120.5 in this battle between two slow-paced defensive behemoths.
Houston heads into the Elite Eight as the +550 third-favorite in the odds to win March Madness, well ahead of sixth-favorite Tennessee at +1600.
Tennessee Blows Out Kentucky
The Volunteers made short work of #3 Kentucky in the Sweet 16, racing out to a 43-28 lead at halftime and cruising to a 78-65 victory. Diminutive point guard Zakai Zeigler (13.7 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 7.4 APG) was the catalyst in the lopsided win, finishing with an 18-point, 10-assist double-double. Leading scorer Chaz Lanier (), who’d been dismal in the regular-season losses to UK, added 17 on 7-of-16 shooting.
Tennessee finished +12 in rebounding against Kentucky (31-19), including +9 on the offensive glass (13-4).
In the first round, Tennessee drubbed #15 Wofford, 77-62. In round two, they outclassed #7 UCLA, 67-58.
The Volunteers played just one Big 12 team in the regular season, running over Baylor 77-62 in the Bahamas in late November. Houston went 2-0 against Baylor, winning 76-65 at home and 65-61 in Waco.
But the Cougars were a discouraging 0-2 against SEC teams in the regular season, losing to both Auburn (74-69 home) and Alabama in overtime (85-80 neutral). Tennessee went 1-1 against Auburn (losing on the road and winning on a neutral court in the SEC Tournament) and beat Alabama (79-76 home).
As good as Tennessee has been of late, going 9-2 in its past 11 with six top-50 wins, they haven’t moved from fifth in the KenPom ratings since Feb. 11. Houston sits third at KenPom, the same position its occupied since Feb. 4.
TENN vs HOU Statistical Head-to-Head
Statistics in table are from prior to Friday’s Sweet 16 games.
The difference between the two teams, at least in the analytics, is slim. But Houston does have the edge on both offense and defense, sitting 11th in O Rating compared to UT in 17th, and first in D Rating, compared to UT in third.
Houston Survives Purdue
The Cougars breezed through the first two rounds of the tournament, routing #16 SIUE, 78-40, and then ending Gonzaga’s nine-year Sweet 16 run with an 81-76 victory that wasn’t nearly as close as the final score suggests.
Houston jumped out to an early 10-2 lead on the Zags, took an eight-point lead into halftime, and led by double digits for 75% of the second half. The Cougars’ win probability never dipped below 74.8%.
Senior guard and leading scorer LJ Cryer (15.6 PPG, 2.2 RPG, 1.9 APG) had a game-high and season-high-tying 30 points in the victory over Gonzaga, going 6-of-11 from three.
In the Sweet 16, Houston saw off a spirited challenge from #4 Purdue (62-60). The Cougars turned a one-point halftime deficit into a seven-point lead just five minutes into the second stanza and held a semi-comfortable cushion until the final minute, when the Boilermakers tied the game at 60 on a Camden Heide three.
Junior guard Milos Uzan, who had a team-high 22 points, scored the winning bucket off a brilliant inbound play with just 0.8 seconds on the clock.
Houston obliterated Purdue on the glass (38 to 29) and connected at 39.1% from three, compared to just 29.6% for the Boilermakers.
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Managing Editor
Sascha has been working in the sports-betting industry since 2014, and quickly paired his strong writing skills with a burgeoning knowledge of probability and statistics. He holds an undergraduate degree in linguistics and a Juris Doctor from the University of British Columbia.
