#3 Houston vs. #14 Georgia St. NCAA Tournament Betting Odds
- Spread: Houston -12.5
- Over/Under: 143
- Date: Friday, March 22
- Time: 7:20 p.m. ET
- Location: Tulsa, Ok.
- TV: TBS
Houston's Statistical Profile
With a 29-2 overall record and 16-2 in conference, the Houston Cougars took the regular season American Atheltic Conference crown. While ranking as KenPom's 13th-best team in terms of of Adjusted Efficiency Margin, there are serious — and valid — questions regarding what to expect from Kelvin Sampson's squad.
With just the 96th-toughest strength of schedule in the country — worst of KenPom's top 20 teams — the Cougars played just two teams ranked at the time of their meeting: Oregon and Cincinnati (twice). And in the American Atheltic Conference Tournament championship game, Houston got beat handily by those Bearcats, 69-57. — PJ Walsh
- Record: 31-3
- Adj. Efficiency Rank: 13
- Adj. Offensive Efficiency Rank: 19
- Adj. Defensive Efficiency Rank: 17
- Tempo Rank: 236
All advanced metrics via KenPom as of Friday, March 15
Georgia State's Statistical Profile
At 13-5 in Sun Belt play, Georgia State was the top seed in their conference tournament and beat #2 Texas State in relatively convincing fashion Sunday. Though they took care of their Sun Belt foes, they didn’t do a ton outside of their conference.
They didn’t have much of a chance, either, as their one game against a ranked opponent was a 12-point loss at Kansas State. They did have two fairly impressive wins, with one coming against East Tennessee State (#69 in the nation per KenPom) and at Alabama (#60).
This is their fifth NCAA Tournament berth and third of the decade. Last year, they were knocked out in the first round by #2 Cincinnati, but back in 2015, they upset #3 Baylor as a #14 seed. Down by two with the clock running down, R.J. Hunter hit a deep three to give them a one point win. Will they have any magic like that up their sleeves again this year? — Mark Gallant
- Record: 23.9
- Adj. Efficiency Rank: 121
- Adj. Offensive Efficiency Rank: 95
- Adj. Defensive Efficiency Rank: 165
- Tempo Rank: 75
All advanced metrics via KenPom as of Friday, March 15
Sean Koerner's Houston-Georgia State Projections
Sean Koerner's proprietary projections also power our Bracket Simulator, which helps you find the most optimal bracket for your pool size.
- Spread: Houston -12
- Total: 140
- Proj Score: Houston 76 | Georgia State 64
- Win Probability: Houston 88.2% | Georgia State 11.8%
