Big 12 March Madness Prediction and Odds: Houston Top Bet to Contend

· Feb 10 - 5 minutes read

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It is hard to believe that since Kansas won the 2022 national title, there has not been a Big 12 team in the March Madness men’s Final Four. Houston and Kansas are among the teams eager to change that in the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

March Madness Big 12 Odds: Houston the Top Bet to Watch — Hunter Dickinson #1 of the Kansas Jayhawks | amie Squire/Getty Images/AFP

Houston (+1000) trails only Auburn, Duke and Tennessee in the odds of winning March Madness. Kansas began the season tied for third in the NCAAB championship odds. Those odds have moved from +1000 to +1800 since the start of the season.

BetUS will provide a weekly update of where Big 12 teams stand with March Madness not far away from getting underway.

Houston (+130) and Iowa State (+160) lead the way in the odds of winning the Big 12 title followed by Kansas (+550) and Arizona (+1000).

Big 12 March Madness Analysis: Best Bets to Bubble Teams

The Contenders

Houston is ranked in the top 10 in both offensive and defensive ratings in the Pomeroy basketball ratings. This is a team that has to be considered a threat to win it all.

Houston began the month of February with an overtime loss to Texas Tech. The Cougars rebounded with a home win against Oklahoma State and a victory at Colorado.

19-4 overall
11-1 in @Big12Conference

On to the next one!

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— Houston Men’s Hoops 🏀 🐾 (@UHCougarMBK) February 9, 2025

Things are about to get more challenging with three of the next five games coming against ranked teams. Houston is listed by the NCAAB betting line as a 9-point favorite versus visiting Baylor on Monday with a huge road game coming up against Arizona on Saturday.

Kansas is tied for fifth in the Big 12 standings heading into the week and that is not what was expected from the Jayhawks at the start of the season. A 3-5 road record is one of the concerns for Kansas and could impact the Final Four odds for the Jayhawks.

The Jayhawks are coming off a loss to rival Kansas State. Hunter Dickinson and Zeke Mayo are one of the top scoring tandems in the Big 12 but no other Kansas player is averaging at least 10 points per game.

Arizona is tied with Houston for the conference lead in the first season in the Big 12 with veteran guard Caleb Love leading the way. Arizona seems a little undervalued at +4000 in the odds of winning March Madness.

Iowa State snapped a three-game losing streak with an impressive win over TCU. The Cyclones are at +1600 in the championship odds. The Cyclones are tied with Arizona at 14-9 against the college basketball spread. That is tied for the best mark in the Big 12.

Big 12 Teams in NCAAB Tournament Mix

Those who bet online aren’t falling in love with Texas Tech just yet with the Red Raiders at +4000 in the championship odds.

Texas Tech is ahead of Iowa State and Kansas in the NCAA NET rankings, one of the tools used by the NCAA selection committee to put together the March Madness bracket.

Back at the crib on Wednesday 🫡

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— Texas Tech Basketball (@TexasTechMBB) February 10, 2025

The Red Raiders are 6-3 in Quad 1 games this season and that can’t be ignored when it comes to making college basketball predictions.

The Big 12 has five teams in the top 11 in the NCAA NET rankings. After No. 11 Kansas, there is a bit of a gap.

Baylor comes in next at No. 27 with a 4-7 record in Quad 1 games and 3-5 against ranked teams. The Bears have been dealing with injuries all season but an 11-point win over Kansas is an indication of how dangerous this Baylor team can be.

Bubble Watch: Some Work to Do for March Madness

West Virginia is sitting at 6-6 in conference play and that is just one of the concerning numbers.

The Mountaineers are 5-6 in Quad 1 games and 1-2 in Quad 2 games. A 3-4 record on the road is not good news either, per NCAAB betting trends.

West Virginia has just one game remaining against a ranked team so there will be limited opportunities to prove that it is worthy of an at-large bid. It might be a stretch to call the Mountaineers a team on the bubble right now.

BYU has many of the same issues with a 6-6 record in the Big 12 and a 2-5 mark in Quad 1 contests. There are back-to-back games coming up against Kansas and Arizona and a March 4 clash with Iowa State.

Cincinnati seems to be in a position to have to win the Big 12 tournament to make the March Madness field as a 1-7 record in Quad 1 games could be a deal-breaker.