Houston vs. SIU Edwardsville: 2025 NCAA Tournament Odds & Picks

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The 2025 NCAA Tournament is officially here! The March Madness Bracket is set, and first-round NCAA Tournament matchups are in place. It’s time to make your picks and predictions for the first round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament! We’re here to help as we’ll have picks and predictions for each of the first-round 2025 NCAA Tournament games. Here are our top picks and predictions for Houston vs. SIU Edwardsville.

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2025 NCAA Tournament Odds & Picks: Houston vs. SIU Edwardsville

Let’s dive into our top picks and predictions for this opening-round NCAA Tournament matchup.

2025 NCAA Tournament Preview: Houston vs. SIU Edwardsville

Houston 2025 NCAA Tournament Preview

Kelvin Sampson has somehow gotten the reputation of not showing up in the NCAA Tournament, but people seem quick to forget Houston's Final Four run in 2021 and Elite 8 appearance in 2022. Houston took a while to find its footing this season, but since Dec. 1, the Cougars have gone 26-1, with their one loss coming in overtime, as they ran through the Big 12.

Houston is known for its defense, but let’s start with the offense. L.J. Cryer, Milos Uzan, and Emmanuel Sharp have given Houston one of their better shooting teams in recent memory, with nearly a 40% perimeter shooting clip. If you're on team shot volume, Houston leads that charge with the highest field goal rate in the nation, courtesy of their ball control and offensive rebounding rates, both in the top 30 in the country. Let me emphasize that: No team puts up more shots per 100 possessions than the Cougars. For a sport with such offensive volatility, shot quantity is remarkably important in March.

Of course, the Houston defense is pretty good too. They allow very little inside, with the third-best near-proximity defensive shooting percentage and second-best midrange defense. The Cougars allow a good number of threes, but considering that's the only thing they really allow, it's not too concerning.

If we're looking for weaknesses, the ShotQuality folks will pipe up, as Houston attempts more midrange shots than anyone else in the nation. The Cougars are susceptible to opponents getting hot from the perimeter, and despite an undefeated true road record, their early-season neutral-court losses are perhaps concerning for games against non-conference opponents.

There is nothing that can beat effort, and you can make a case that Houston is the highest-effort squad in America. The Cougars were down six with 20 seconds to go against Kansas but eventually won in double overtime with some late clutch moments. This is a team that will never be out of any game they are in, and Houston might have the highest floor of any team in the tournament. The Cougars’ ceiling is yet to be found, but this might be the season they get there, despite all the focus on Auburn and Duke this year.

SIU Edwardsville 2025 NCAA Tournament Preview

SIU Edwardsville begins the tournament with a backcourt-heavy roster built around the leadership of two veteran guards. Ray’Sean Taylor was the OVC Player of the Year, while his cousin Brian Taylor had a nice breakout season of his own, finishing with the seventh-best true shooting percentage in conference play and shooting 46 percent from deep on the year. Ring Malith and Myles Thompson provide versatility on the wing, but SIU Edwardsville lacks depth, ranking outside the top 300 in bench minutes.

The Cougars are a defense-first team, limiting Southeast Missouri to 48 points in the conference championship and ranking top 40 in DI in defensive effective field goal percentage.

The problem is that their strength of schedule is in the bottom 25 among all DI teams. They haven’t been pushed much, and any opponent ranked in the top 200 dominated them. Offensively, there isn’t much to write home about. SIU Edwardsville’s interior shooting ranks outside the top 300, and they don’t manufacture extra looks with boards and free throw attempts. There’s a lot needed here for an SIUE tournament victory.

2025 NCAA Tournament Predictions: Houston vs. SIU Edwardsville

Houston has been one of the best teams in the country all season - and it's rolling right now. The Cougars just won both the Big 12 Conference regular-season and tournament titles while going a remarkable 26-1 since November. They rank second in adjusted defensive efficiency and 10th in offensive efficiency while being a truly complete squad. Kelvin Sampson's squad should win their first-round matchup against SIU Edwardsville with relative ease. Give credit to SIUE for its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance after winning its conference tournament. But facing a red-hot Houston team that's hungry for a national title is a different beast altogether. SIUE ranks 255th in offensive efficiency and could have serious issues scoring against the Cougs' juggernaut defense. The Ohio Valley champs faced two power-conference teams earlier this season, losing by 32 to Illinois and by 19 to Indiana. Meanwhile, Houston dominated 16-seed Longwood by 40 a year ago in the NCAA Tournament and could do something similar here.

2025 NCAA Tournament Picks: Houston vs. SIU Edwardsville

Houston -27.5 (-110)

Check out all of our 2025 NCAA Tournament Bracket & Betting Coverage >>

2025 NCAA Tournament Sports Betting Picks

For those looking to place bets on the matchups, let's take a look at the early odds and picks for the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

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