The No. 6 Houston Cougars (3-2) will take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (4-2) in the NIL-driven 2024 Players Era Festival on the Las Vegas strip. Both teams are coming off losses in their first Players Era Festival 2024 matchups on Tuesday with Notre Dame losing to Rutgers, 85-84, in overtime and Houston falling to No. 9 Alabama, 85-80, in overtime in a battle of top-10 teams.
Tipoff is set for 12:30 a.m. ET on Thursday morning from MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Nev. Houston is a 16.5-point favorite in the latest Houston vs. Notre Dame odds, while the over/under is 136 points per SportsLine consensus. Before entering any Notre Dame vs. Houston picks, you'll want to see the college basketball predictions from the proven model at SportsLine.
The model simulates every Division 1 college basketball game 10,000 times. It enters Week 4 of the 2024-25 season on a 162-118 betting roll (+1762) on all top-rated college basketball picks dating back to 2023. Anyone following at sportsbooks and on betting apps has seen huge returns.
The model has set its sights on Notre Dame vs. Houston. You can head to SportsLine to see its picks. Here are several college basketball betting lines for the Houston vs. Notre Dame game:
- Houston vs. Notre Dame spread: Houston -16.5
- Houston vs. Notre Dame over/under: 136 points
- Houston vs. Notre Dame money line: Houston: -2000, Notre Dame: +1000
- HOU: The Cougars are 3-0 ATS as a favorite by more than 10 points this season
- ND: The Fighting Irish went 15-9 ATS as an underdog last season
- Houston vs. Notre Dame picks: See picks here
- Houston vs. Notre Dame streaming: FuboTV (Try for free)
Why Houston can cover
The Cougars held three of their first four opponents to 45 points or fewer, but they were unable to carry that defensive dominance against No. 9 Alabama on Tuesday. Houston still held Alabama to 36.7% shooting from the field in its 85-80 loss. The Cougars are holding teams to 36.3% shooting this season, which ranks 13th in college basketball, and their 57.6 points per game allowed is seventh in the nation.
Houston is coming off three straight 30-win seasons as head coach Kelvin Sampson has turned the Cougars into one of the top programs in the nation. The Cougars have been a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back years and reached at least the Sweet 16 in four straight seasons. L.J. Cryer, a fifth-year senior guard, leads Houston at 15 points per game after averaging 15.5 points last year for the Cougars. Emanuel Sharp (12.2 ppg) and J'Wan Roberts (10.4 ppg) are also returning starters from last year's 32-5 team. See which team to pick here.
Why Notre Dame can cover
The Fighting Irish have a quick turnaround following their overtime loss to Rutgers on Tuesday but one bright spot was Matt Allocco proving to be an offensive force. The Princeton transfer had a season-high 24 points and 10 rebounds. Notre Dame is going to need him as a contributor if it's going to have a turnaround after back-to-back losing seasons.
Notre Dame played tough with Rutgers despite its leading scorer suffering a knee injury early in the contest. Markus Burton, a sophomore guard, leads Notre Dame at 18.2 points per game after finishing his freshman season as the team's top scorer at 17.5 points per contest. It's unlikely Burton plays against Houston, so Notre Dame will need players like Allocco, Braeden Shrewsberry (15 ppg) and Tae Davis (12.8 ppg) to play pivotal roles to stay within the spread. See which team to pick here.
How to make Houston vs. Notre Dame picks
The model has simulated Notre Dame vs. Houston 10,000 times and the results are in. The model is leaning Over, and it says one side of the spread hits almost 60% of the time. You can only see the pick at SportsLine.
So who wins Houston vs. Notre Dame, and which side of the spread hits almost 60% of the time? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of the Notre Dame vs. Houston spread you need to jump on, all from the model that is on a 162-118 roll on top-rated college basketball picks, and find out.