Houston vs Oregon State Bet: 2021 March Madness Elite 8 Pick. The first weekend of the NCAA Tournament is in the books and we are onto the Elite 8! The two-seed Houston Cougars will take on a strong Cinderella 11-seeded Oregon State Beavers squad in what seems to be a David and Goliath battle on paper.
Oregon State was a team that was not expected to make any kind of noise in college basketball season, being consistently ranked at the bottom of pre-season PAC12 power rankings. They have silenced the doubters by winning the Pac-12 tournament with wins over other tournament teams and have found themselves in the Elite 8.
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The Beavers have taken down the 5-seed in Tennessee, the 4-seed in Cade Cunningham‘s Oklahoma State squad, and most recently took down Sister Jean’s Loyola Chicago Ramblers in convincing fashion.
Houston has had one of the easiest paths to Elite 8 of any team — the benefit of being a two-seed. They beat Cleveland State in the Round of 64 by 31 points, sneaked a victory against 10-seed Rutgers by just three points, and most recently put together a near-blowout against the Syracuse Orange by 16 points.
Oregon State does have some momentum on their side considering they haven’t lost a game in a long while. Houston has had a pretty breezy ride to this point. Oregon State is hungry to continue their Cinderella story and they don’t want to close the book just yet.
What can we expect from either team in this Houston vs Oregon State matchup? Let’s take a look.
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Houston vs Oregon State Bet: 2021 March Madness Elite 8
Houston Cougars -8 vs. Oregon State Beavers
Oregon State Beavers +8 (-110) at Unibet
Under 130 (-110) at Unibet
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I’m predicting Houston will win this game, but I strongly feel it will be a close one. Oregon State is a team that simply grinds their way in games and does everything they can to stay in the fight. Houston is an excellent basketball team, but Oregon State’s Ethan Thompson, Jarod Lucas, and Warith Alatishe can surely will them to yet another improbable victory.
If Houston can play to its full capability, this squad can blow out the Beavers. However, if the Cougars play as poorly as they did against Syracuse, Oregon State will reach the Final Four. Take Oregon State and the points.
Unders on totals as low as 130 are a bit risky considering it only takes Houston finding its offensive groove to hit the Over, but Houston has been fairly cold offensively. Oregon State also plays underrated, excellent team defense. Oregon State and Houston have combined for an average of just over 128 points per game in their six March Madness outings. The Under is the play here, but it truly can go either way.
