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It's time to continue our College Basketball odds series with a BYU-Houston prediction and pick. Find out how to watch BYU-Houston.
There are a lot of attractive conference games on the first full-service college basketball Saturday of 2025. This rates as one of them. Houston has one of the better defenses in the country and has been an elite defense-first program for some time under coach Kelvin Sampson. Houston has made the Sweet 16 or better in each of the past four seasons and has a very good chance of being able to get back to the top tier of the sport. Houston has not had a brilliant season thus far, but the Cougars are still a good team with a chance to be especially strong when March rolls around. It starts with the defense.
This game is interesting from a betting vantage point for two basic reasons. First, Houston crushes inferior teams with its defense. The Cougars will go up against bad teams and hold them under 55, 50, 45 points. Houston manages to put the hammer down when it senses that it can go in for a quick kill. UH knows how to land a punch when its opponent is struggling.
The second point is that BYU has one of the better offenses Houston will face this season. These Cougars from Utah, who will face the Cougars from Texas, are good at spreading the floor, creating open 3-point shots, and making a decent percentage of them. BYU has a legitimately dangerous offense, and that's where Houston's defense — so good at squashing tomato cans — will be tested. This is not a game in which the Houston formula of stomping on a weak offense is guaranteed to become reality. Houston has been money in the bank for bettors who would bet under the opponent's team total in games when UH was favored by a lot of points. Houston would cover the spread on a number of those occasions, but the best bet was team total under for the UH opponent. BYU does not fall into the same basket in terms of being a team Houston can easily smother. That might not be the case in this game, and it's a great barometer of where these two teams stand.
Here are the BYU-Houston College Basketball Odds, courtesy of FanDuel
College Basketball Odds: BYU-Houston Odds
BYU: +11.5 (-118)
Moneyline: +490
Houston: -11.5 (-104)
Moneyline: -710
Over: 135.5 (-110)
Under: 135.5 (-110)
How to Watch BYU vs Houston
Article Continues Below
Time: 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT
TV: ESPN Plus
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Why BYU Will Cover The Spread/Win
BYU is simply not a team Houston can bully and overwhelm. The BYU squad coming to Texas for this game has a legitimately good offense and can do things most of Houston's opponents have not been able to do. Moreover, when Houston has played good offenses, such as Alabama's, UH has not done that well this season. BYU might not dominate Houston, but as long as BYU scores its share of points, the 11.5-point spread should be comfortably covered. One can make the argument this spread is 3-4 points too high.
Why Houston Will Cover The Spread/Win
BYU has the offense, but Houston brings the defense. UH is going to get in the chests of BYU shooters and not allow them to feel comfortable. If Houston creates a few live-ball turnovers which become easy fast-break baskets, UH can win this by 15 to 20 points.
Final BYU-Houston Prediction & Pick
We're going to plant our flag here and ride with BYU, believing the spread is indeed several points too high. This is a game Houston wins by six to nine points, not 15. Take BYU.
Final BYU-Houston Prediction & Pick: BYU +11.5
