The Texas Longhorns take on the Cincinnati Bearcats. Check out our college basketball odds series for our Texas Cincinnati prediction and pick. Find how to watch Texas Cincinnati.

The Cincinnati Bearcats are making it clear that they're ready for the Big 12 Conference in their first season in the league. They went into Provo, Utah, on Saturday night and handled the nationally-ranked BYU Cougars. Cincinnati held BYU to 28-percent shooting from 3-point range. The Bearcats watched BYU miss 33 of 46 3-point shots and waste a lot of possessions chucking up long balls. Cincinnati also forced 18 BYU turnovers. The Bearcats went up against a high-powered BYU offense which had been scoring over 75 points per game for a majority of its season and held it to just 60 points. Not bad for a Big 12 road game. Cincinnati is 12-2 overall and building a resume worthy of the NCAA Tournament.

Texas is coming into Ohio after losing to Texas Tech at home on Saturday. The game wasn't even all that close, with the Longhorns falling by 11 points to their in-state rival. Texas is 11-3 on the season and needs to make it clear that it will compete well in the Big 12 this season. Texas reached the Elite Eight last season and was naturally seen as a team with a high ceiling this year. The Longhorns want to sustain momentum as a program and reach a similarly high standard this season. If they lose this game to Cincinnati, they would not only fall to 0-2 in Big 12 play; worse than that, they would fall to 0-2 before playing Kansas, Houston, and some of the other big hitters in the conference. Texas faces an urgent moment early in its season.

Here are the Texas-Cincinnati College Basketball odds, courtesy of FanDuel.

College Basketball Odds: Texas-Cincinnati Odds

Texas Longhorns: +4.5 (-106)

Cincinnati Bearcats: -4.5 (-114)

Over: 145.5 (-115)

Under: 145.5 (-105)

How To Watch Texas vs Cincinnati

Time: 7:00 pm ET / 4:00 pm PT

TV: ESPN Plus

Stream: fuboTV (click for a free trial)*

Why Texas Could Cover the Spread

The Longhorns are going to be desperate in this game. They know how bad it would be if they fell to 0-2 in Big 12 play. They know they would face a huge uphill battle if they can't stabilize themselves this week. Texas played poorly against Texas Tech, and while that might seem like a reason to pick against the Longhorns, it also means that Texas is bound to play better against Cincinnati. This is a good bounce-back spot for Texas. It is unlikely that the Horns would play a bad game twice in a row, especially with the stakes being so high for this contest.

Cincinnati is a good team, but the Bearcats beat a BYU squad which might have been a little overrated and oversold. BYU does not have a big low-post threat. The Cougars are very reliant on shooting 3-pointers. Texas is not as imbalanced as BYU and should be able to handle Cincinnati in the paint with more strength and success than BYU did.

Why Cincinnati Could Cover the Spread

Texas was just plain bad against Texas Tech, and Cincinnati's defense was outstanding against a potent BYU offense. Crucially, Cincy beat BYU on the road, while Texas was pancake-flat at home over the weekend. It's not just the wins and losses which separate these teams; Cincinnati showed it could play well away from home. Texas lost on its home floor. Now these teams go to Cincinnati. The Bearcats have to feel confident about their ability to dictate how this game is played in front of their home crowd.

Final Texas-Cincinnati Prediction & Pick

Cincy might win outright, but Texas could lose by four and still cover. That's a really attractive reason to pick Texas.

Final Texas-Cincinnati Prediction & Pick: Texas +4.5