Posted at 12:30 PM EST. Odds subject to change.

Pinnacle -7½ -104  BET365 -7½ -110 Sportsinteraction -7½ -110 888Sport -7½ -110

T-Mobile Center, Kansas City, MO - Midwest Region - Sweet 16

Streaming: CBS

Houston -7½ over Miami

7:15 PM EST. The Cougars came into the NCAAs on a losing note in the American Athletic Conference championship game to Memphis. Houston then got off to a shaky start in this tournament, knocking off Northern Kentucky 63-52 as a 19-point favorite. The Cougs were up just three at halftime when the “upset” alarms sounded. At no point was Houston in a position to cover that significant point-spread.

The top seeds in this tournament have been under siege, as #1s Purdue and Kansas have been sent packing. So, too, have #2s UCLA, Marquette, and Arizona, as well as #3 Baylor. We’re willing to go as far as the #4s to make a point because Tennessee, Indiana, and Virginia have all gone home, too. There was not one #1 versus #4 matchup in the Sweet Sixteen. That is not normal.

This is a #1 v #5, which is as close as we’ll get, which is perhaps why Miami is getting so much respect taking back a price like this. The ACC has long been respected as one of the top conferences in the Power Six, and “The U” is “The U.” To get to the Sweet 16, Miami won and covered against Drake in Round 1, and then it whacked #4 Indiana 85-69 as a 1½-point pooch in the round of 32. That was a big flex on the B1G, but it's also led to a jump in the 'Canes stock price, so much so that these are deflated points, rather than inflated points. The Cougs are elite and should be spotting double digits here. They aren't. That's true value.

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