NCAA Men’s Final Four: Best Bets on Duke vs University of Houston
Given how similar their respective spots are in each of their sports, on the cusp of being a title contender but not quite there yet, we discuss the Texans, Rockets, and Astros quite a bit, both on the radio and on social media. Which of those teams will be the next to win the city a title? That’s a common question we kick around.
The answer might be “None of the above,” as the University of Houston men’s basketball teams jumps onto the HOV lane on this highway of championship debate, and sails past all three to the Final Four in San Antonio this weekend. Saturday night, the Coogs will get a chance to exact revenge against the team that knocked them out of last season’s tournament, the Duke Blue Devils.
The hatred for all things Duke, along with the love for all things Houston, should be enough to fuel emotion on Saturday night, but if you need that little extra nudge, you know that you can always count on gambling to scratch you where you itch! With that in mind, here are my best bets on the Coogs’ semifinal matchup with the Blue Devils, along with a bonus bet on the other seminal matchup between Florida and Auburn.
Houston +4.5
Houston-Duke UNDER 136.5
Let’s start with the play on the spread, in which I happily take the 4.5 points Vegas wants to give me, and honestly, I’ll probably sprinkle some money on the Coogs to win the game outright. Duke is a great team at both ends of the floor, but I just don’t think they’ve seen anything like this Houston defense, where they contest every pass and every shot, and it feels like there are seven of them out there. Duke hasn’t faced a Top 15 defense since December. At the very least, the Coogs are set up to to jump on Duke early, so maybe a first half bet on Houston +2.5 makes sense.
