Houston Cougars vs. Tulane Green Wave Prediction & Game Preview - 2/23/2022

Time: 8 p.m. ET

Venue: Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse, New Orleans, LA

Where to watch: ESPN+

DraftKings: Houston -8.5

BetMGM: Houston -8.5

Caesars: Houston -8.5

No. 14 Houston: 22-4 (11-2 AAC)

Tulane: 12-11 (9-5 AAC)

I have thought about how we can make college basketball more exciting toward the end of the year. Now hear me out, 'cause this is likely not going to happen because we need to be realistic in that some teams will be good one year and teams will be bad, and so on and so forth.

I think there should be flex scheduling in college basketball. Now I realize that's hard to do because there are still plenty of games to go, between the conference tournaments and everything else in between.

But when I prepare to watch the 14th ranked team in the country get ready to play a team that has just won twelve games this season with ample room left to grow as far as the ranking goes, I just sit and shake my head and wonder why in the world do we even have these games?

The Houston Cougars are coming off a double-overtime victory against Wichita State on Sunday. If it were up to me and the powers that be I would just get all the bad teams out of the way first so that when you get to the end of college basketball season you are just having good team versus good team and in that way you also have added incentive going into the NCAA tournament where if you beat said good teams and you have a good end to your regular season, you're looking at a pretty high seed going into the tournament.

Again I know that's highly unlikely and nobody would ever want to just listen to me because clearly, I have bad ideas that would not make sense in any college basketball lexicon. But yes I would like to see the likes of Josh Carlton go for 23 points and 11 rebounds against a much more competitive team than Wichita state. Now I know what you're going to say: Wichita state actually played Houston tough in this game, why in the world do we wanna change it up? There's the exception. Wichita State is a historically good program. You can live with this choice.

I say that just to say I really don't care about Tulane, nor did I believe that we would be coming this late into the season talking about Tulane, because Houston is going to wipe the floor with the Green Wave.

But sure, let's talk about Tulane because we have nothing else good to talk about at this current point in time period Tulane has actually won three of its last four games and is coming off a 19-point victory at South Florida on the 15th. So take this into consideration here: Tulane is playing its first game in eight days. Instead of being able to take advantage of the rest and slash or trying to build off that success, Tulane has not played a game in eight days.

In this realm of the lexicon, I would much attribute this to a large bulk of rust and do not trust Tulane to come anywhere close to winning this game. Sure, Jaylen Forbes is coming off a 22 point game for the Green Wave and things are looking up for Tulane. But I would be very cautious in telling you all that beating a 7 win team like South Florida is not really cause for celebration, nor is it any reason to get excited.

Tulane is not going to get many chances nowadays to shoot 52% from the floor and only turn the ball over seven times. More than likely when it comes to facing Houston, Tulane will shoot 7% and turn it over 52 times because that's just the way college basketball tends to run its course toward the end of the season.

Can you tell I'm just very excited to get done with this season and just move on to the NCAA tournament? There have been so many upsets and there have been so many just wild games that I cannot fathom any more ridiculousness when it comes to college basketball. It hurts my head let's just get to the tournaments, Tulane why are you playing this game?

That all being said do not take anything that I just said seriously. I'm just kidding. Houston is going to win this game by a large lump sum and you should either avoid this game at all costs, or if you truly believe that Houston is going to run away with this and you have so much confidence to put so much money down on the money line, by all means go ahead and do it because who am I to say no to you, you lovely people betting on this wonderful sport? Houston by 15

Houston is 45-34 ATS as a favorite the past three seasons.

Houston is 16-5 ATS off a no-cover when they won as an outright favorite.

Tulane is 51-83 ATS as a home dog or pick.

PG: Jamal Shead

SG: Kyler Edwards
SF: Taze Moore
PF: Fabian White
C: Josh Carlton

PG: Jalen Cook

SG: Sion James
SF: R.J. McGee
PF: Jaylen Forbes
C: Kevin Cross

Points: Kyler Edwards -- 13.6

Rebounds: Josh Carlton -- 6.7

Assists: Jamal Shead -- 5.5

Points: Jalen Cook -- 18.1

Rebounds: Kevin Cross -- 6.5

Assists: Jalen Cook