The 1st seeded Houston Cougars coincided with No. 8 Gonza Gabledog on Saturday, with spots on the Sweet 16 line. In the second round of matchups in the Midwest Region of NCAA Tournament 2025, pit teams with the longest active sweet 16 streaks to play teams against each other. Gonzaga (26-8) made appearances in nine straight sweet 16, tied to the second-longest winning streak in March’s madness history. Meanwhile, Houston (31-4) reached the rounds for the fifth consecutive 16 times, taking part in the contest with 14 games of victory.
The game from Inplast Bank Arena in Wichita, Kansas is 8:40pm (The Cougars are a favorite of 5.5 points on the Houston odds of the latest Gonzaga vs. Sportsline Consensus, with an over/under scorepoint of 140.5. Be sure to check out the college basketball predictions from the sportsline projection model before creating a Houston vs. Gonzaga pick.
This model simulates all Division 1 college basketball games 10,000 times. Enter the 2025 NCAA Tournament with 228-166 rolls (+2025) with all the highest rated college basketball picks dating back to 2023. The model also produced brackets that beat more than 91% of CBS sports entries in four of the last six tournaments, and nailed the 24 first round Uptets with 24 digits of Uptets. Anyone who followed would have seen a big return.
The model is currently aiming for Gonzaga vs. Houston, trapped in March’s madness predictions. You can now visit the Sports Line and see the model’s picks. Here are the odds and lines for Houston vs. Gonzaga college basketball:
Gonzaga vs. Houston Spread: Houston-5.5gonzaga vs. Houston Over/Under: 140.5 Points Gonzaga vs. Houston Money Line: Houston-218, Gonzaga +179hou: 19-16 spread (ATS) Gon of this season: 15-19 ATS
Why Houston can cover it
The Cougars won a 78-40 victory over March’s crazy rookie Siu Edwardsville in the first round on Thursday. Houston took the lead at 2:49 seconds of the game and never gave up, leading by 40 points. They had the advantage in both Glass – a 50 rebound was almost twice the Siue’s 27 – and were over the arc as Houston had a plus 24 margin on points on a 3-point attempt. As the score shows, Houston put Crump against him as the SIUE player scored 10 or more points.
That elite defense is all seasons for Kelvin Sampson’s team, ranking number one in Division I (57.9) in points allowed per game and second in Kenpom’s defensive efficiency rankings. However, unlike in the past few years, violations are roughly equivalent to defense. Houston ranks fifth in the country, committing to the sixth most turnover per game (9.2) with a 3-point percentage (39.6%). The team also has players who can rely on LJ Cryer. He has scored at least 15 points in each of the last June madness games. Check out the teams you choose here.
Why Gonzaga can cover it
Either way, in the 8-9 matchup, the eight-seeded Zag ruled the Georgia Bulldogs (89-68) in their first round matchup on Thursday. Gonzaga never chased in the game, defeating 60% of 20 attempts over the arc, but that percentage was higher for the season. This offensive explosion came shortly after the Bulldogs held St. Mary’s, seven-seeded in the NCAA Tournament. Zags won the West Coast Conference Tournament Final, giving them just 51 points, demonstrating their ability to win both offensive and defensively.
However, when you think about Mark’s small teams, you think about the offensive end of the court, and for good reason. Gonzaga’s 86.7 points per game is the second-highest in college basketball, thanks to elite shooting. The team is also second in the FG percentage and fifth in the FT percentage, with the Bulldogs boasting five double-digit scorers. Also, it cannot be ignored that Gonzaga made nine straight sweet 16 appearances. So there are few programs that make the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament like this. Check out the teams you choose here.
How to make a Houston vs Gonzaga pick
Sportsline’s model simulates Gonzaga vs Houston 10,000 times, projecting a total of 148 points. It also generated attacked picks that were well above 50% of the simulation. Model picks are available only on the Sports Line.
So who will win Houston vs Gonzaga and which aspect of the spread that is well over 50% of the simulation will hit? Go to the Sports Line and see which side of Gonzaga vs Houston jumps. All of this is back and look it up from advanced models that have returned over $2,000 on the best college basketball picks.
