The Houston Cougars take on the Syracuse Orange in Las Vegas, NV, as part of the Players Era Festival. Tip-off is set for approximately 6 p.m. ET on TNT.
Houston is favored by -12.5 points on the spread with a moneyline of -800. The total is set at 138.5 points.
Here’s my Houston vs. Syracuse prediction and college basketball picks for November 24, 2025.
Houston vs Syracuse Prediction
My Pick: Houston -12.5
My Houston vs Syracuse best bet is on the Cougars to cover the spread. For all of your college basketball bets, be sure to find the best lines by using our live NCAAB odds page.
Houston vs. Syracuse Odds
| Houston Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-12.5 -110 | 138.5 -110 / -110 | -800 |
| Syracuse Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+12.5 -110 | 138.5 -110 / -110 | +550 |
- Houston vs Syracuse spread: Houston -12.5
- Houston vs Syracuse over/under: 138.5 points
- Houston vs Syracuse moneyline: Houston -800, Syracuse +550
Houston vs Syracuse College Basketball Betting Preview
Houston Basketball
To some, Houston is off to an underwhelming start. It makes sense from an against-the-spread standpoint, as the Cougars failed to cover huge spreads against Lehigh and Towson. However, they won the two games by 17 and 18 points.
The Coogs got back to their covering ways in lofty wins over Rider and Oakland.
In all, Houston is 2-3 ATS entering this contest — and it won four of five games by double-digits.
Houston is just scratching the surface this season. I’m not surprised that the Coogs had some minor offensive hiccups early on because LJ Cryer, who's now in the G League, was such an important offensive weapon. In late-clock spots, Cryer took the biggest shots for Houston.
With Cryer gone, it was either going to be Emanuel Sharp or Milos Uzan taking the lead scoring role, right? Well, freshman phenom Kingston Flemings has quickly turned into the guy for Kelvin Sampson.
Flemings got off to a shaky start in his first game, scoring eight points. In his last four contests, though, Flemings has scored 18+ points and shot 61% from the field or better in each game.
He totally changes the tenor of this Houston team. Also, the Cougars slipping Sharp and Uzan into complementary roles is exactly what this offense needs to improve from 25th in efficiency.
Another thing that’ll help is shooting the ball better from 3 — they head to Vegas shooting just 30% from deep.
The typical foundation of teams coached by Sampson is defense and offensive rebounding. Both things remain true this year. The Cougars corral offensive boards on 37% of misses, and their defensive dominance continues while ranking first in defensive efficiency.
Syracuse Basketball
In what feels like a make-or-break season for head coach Red Autry, it’s been a bit of a resurgent start thus far for Syracuse.
The Orange head to Vegas with a 4-0 record, but none of their opponents ranked inside the top 200 of KenPom. That means this'll be a real test to see if Syracuse is legitimate or not.
I’m a long-term believer in this Syracuse squad, but this matchup is particularly difficult for it.
To beat Houston — or keep it close — you need to be a good shooting and rebounding team. Syracuse is neither of the two.
The only starter shooting the ball well is point guard Naithan George (46.2%). I’d expect Nate Kingz to shoot it better based on his numbers last season at Oregon State, but I have very little hope for J.J. Starling, Donnie Freeman or William Kyle III.
If Starling’s free-throw form is any indication of what his perimeter shooting will look like, he shouldn’t attempt any 3s. Kyle is more of an energetic big man who blocks shots and rim-runs. The wild card is Freeman, who gets shots up from deep, but is hitting just 27% thus far.
My biggest worry is rebounding. JoJo Tugler and Chris Cenac Jr. could have a field day versus this Syracuse squad, which ranks 192nd in defensive rebound rate.
If the Orange fail to keep Houston to one-shot possessions, it’s only a matter of time until those second-chances turn into points.
Houston vs. Syracuse Betting Analysis
I'm all over Houston. It'll be tough for Syracuse to compete with the length, rebounding and experience of last season's national runner-up.
Syracuse will be in contention for an NCAA Tournament bid, but Houston is in another weight class.
The Cougars are fifth in KenPom right now and as crazy as it sounds, I view that as their floor. They're so complete on both ends of the floor and the shooting will eventually get into the 33-35% range.
Once that happens, good luck competing with Coach Sampson's squad.
My Pick: Houston -12.5
