College Basketball Odds: Houston Cougars vs. Memphis Tigers

The Conference USA Tournament continues on Wednesday afternoon in Tulsa, where BetUS Sportsbook will take aim at NCAA basketball picks for the clash between the Houston Cougars and the Memphis Tigers.

The Cougars made themselves eligible for a postseason tournament by destroying the East Carolina Pirates yesterday 93-80 in the first round of this tournament.

Memphis is clearly playing a do-or-die game. The Tigers are in the NCAA Tournament at this point, but a loss to a C-USA bottom-dweller would be catastrophic and certainly send them to the NIT. This is one of two must-win games for this team to reach 25 wins, which would most likely send them dancing.

BetUS Sportsbook has Memphis favored by six points and a 'total' of 151.5 on Thursday afternoon.

Houston Cougars (16-15, 12-16 ATS) vs. Memphis Tigers (23-8, 10-16 ATS)

College Basketball Odds:
Houston Cougars +6
Memphis Tigers -6
Game Total 151.5

G Aubrey Coleman is one of the most prolific scorers in the entire nation. He dropped 29 points on the Pirates on Wednesday to raise his scoring average to 26.2 points per game. Coleman may only be a 43 percent shooter from the floor, but he is clearly the most lethal scorer that will be on the floor on Thursday.

This is a team that can run up and down the floor with the best of them. The Cougars average scoring over 79 points per game this year in spite of the fact that they only shoot a woeful 42 percent from the field.

The defense is the big issue, though. Houston is allowing 75.2 points per NCAA basketball game.

Even though this isn't the same type of a team that made it to the NCAA Tournament Final in recent history, the Tigers have put together a decent nucleus of players that have a chance to get back to the dance in a year that was supposed to be a disaster.

G Elliot Williams is the team's top point man at 18.5 per game, and unlike Houston's best scorers, Williams is shooting 47.2 percent from the field.

Memphis still has a super free throw shooting problem, as the team is only converting on 69.5 percent of its charity shots. That will have to improve if the Tigers hope to survive long enough in this tournament to go dancing.

College Basketball Insider Betting Tip: Houston is just 5-12 ATS in its L/17 games played against teams with a winning record above .600.

There is certainly a class differential in these two teams. The Tigers have done a fantastic job trying to right the ship after a disastrous offseason.

Of their 23 wins this year, 19 of them came by at least these six points. One of those big victories came at home against the Cougars 92-77.

Even though Houston did take out Memphis 92-75 in the Lone Star State, this won't be the same type of game.

The Tigers feel like a determined team right now, and seeing them win this tournament wouldn't be a surprise. Expect to see the first step be an easy one.

Make your basketball picks on Memphis Thursday.

My College Basketball Prediction: Memphis by 13