Ohio State's Twin Tanks Are the Key to Handling Houston

To its credit, the NCAA's tournament selectors didn't get much pushback over its choices of Dancers this spring.

Only one inclusion caused raised eyebrows and pained looks, especially among TCU and UNC-Greensboro fans.

Ohio State squeaked into March Madness as the Big Ten's eighth seed and basically flipped off the doubters by eliminating Big XII tourney titlist Iowa State in the first round.

 

Now, the rock 'em, sock 'em, chaos is our business Buckeyes have advanced to play a Houston Cougars club that's speedier and stronger defensively than the Cyclones were.

Bovada has set the line at Houston -6½, the total at 133, with the moneyline at Ohio State +225 and Houston -275.

Why bet on Ohio State ...

For starters, Big Ten teams are 7-2 coming into this game. They're kinda showing why the selectors had deferred to that conference so heavily.

Speaking of, the Wesson brothers were a heavy presence in the Iowa State game. Especially Kaleb. Dude posted 21 points and 12 boards and, combined with brother André, the Cyclones couldn't get inside for love or money, both of which the NCAA frowns upon.

 

Why bet on Houston ...

In their demolition of Georgia State in the first round, guard Corey Davis Jr set a school and AAC record with seven converted treys on his way to scoring a game-high 26 points. Dude also had seven rebounds and six assists in their impressive 29-point victory.

 

The Cougars are an uptempo team that won the AAC regular-season title with a 16-2 conference mark. They were an obvious at-large bid after lto Cincinnati in the conference tournament championship game. Looks like that woke them up.

Instant analysis ...

It's important that the Cougars don't allow the Wesson brothers to smother them inside. Houston does generate much of its offense from the outside, as Davis displayed against the Panthers, and they hold their own on defense, allowing only 61.2 points per game.

The total has gone over in six of Ohio State’s last eight games; the average combined score has been 138.88. Houston should be able to match the Wessons defensively and set the tone as to pace of play. Their offense is far superior. This could be a decent opportunity to double up.

ATS pick: Houston -6½
Total pick: Over 133

Result: Houston 74 Ohio State 59 ... Cougars cover ATS; Total is a push

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