The BYU Cougars take on the Cincinnati Bearcats in Cincinnati, Ohio. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
Cincinnati is favored by 1.5 points on the spread with a moneyline of -115. The total is set at 139.5 points.
Here are my BYU vs. Cincinnati predictions and college basketball picks for February 8, 2025.
BYU vs Cincinnati Prediction
My Pick: BYU +1.5 (Play to -1.5)
My BYU vs Cincinnati best bet is on the Cougars spread, with the best odds currently available at FanDuel. For all of your college basketball bets, be sure to find the best lines by using our live NCAAB odds page.
BYU vs Cincinnati Odds
| BYU Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+1.5 -115 | 139.5 -115 / -105 | -104 |
| Cincinnati Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-1.5 -105 | 139.5 -115 / -105 | -115 |
- BYU vs Cincinnati spread: Cincinnati -1.5
- BYU vs Cincinnati over/under: 139.5 points
- BYU vs Cincinnati moneyline: Cincinnati -115, BYU -104
- BYU vs Cincinnati best bet: BYU +1.5 (Play to -1.5)
Spread
I'm taking the Cougars on the spread.
Moneyline
The Cougars will win this game straight up.
Over/Under
I have no play on the total.
My Pick: BYU +1.5 (Play to -1.5)
BYU vs Cincinnati College Basketball Betting Preview
I'll be honest: This may be a sucker bet. But BYU destroyed Cincinnati by 28 a couple of weeks ago, and I watched that game from start to finish. The Cougars shot 63% from deep (!) while Cincinnati hit just 18%.
Both teams could shoot more toward their season-long percentages from downtown, but I don't know that it will change the scoreline all that much.
I don't think Cincinnati can shoot (19 straight games without hitting 40% from 3), and I think this is one of those matchups where a team just has the number of the other team.
The Cougars are bigger at every position, and Cincinnati's season has really been a disaster after Wes Miller was expected to guide it to the NCAA Tournament. The Bearcats started the campaign as a consensus top-20 team in the sport, but that was a miss from everybody.
I don't think this team has all that much to play for and spot wise, we get the Bearcats coming off a win at UCF while BYU had a somewhat heartbreaking loss at home to Arizona. I thought the Cougars played well enough in that game to win, but Arizona just made some big time shots in the second half.
I buy that this BYU team has been playing at a high level, as it won four straight before the Arizona matchup. I think the Cougars feel a little bit of bubble pressure, as they've been in the "Last Four In" on a lot of Bracketology sites.
Cincinnati has zero wins versus top-40 opponents this year, and BYU has won two straight on the road.
You have to make 3s to beat BYU, and that's not Cincinnati's game, so I don't think flipping the venue is going to change the result.
