Houston-Georgia State Betting Odds: Opening Spread, Analysis for 2019 NCAA Tournament

#3 Houston vs. #14 Georgia St. NCAA Tournament Betting Odds

• Spread: Houston -12.5
• Over/Under: 143
• Date: Friday, March 22
• Time: 7:20 p.m. ET
• Location: Tulsa, Ok.
• TV: TBS

Houston's Statistical Profile

With a 29-2 overall record and 16-2 in conference, the Houston Cougars took the regular season American Atheltic Conference crown. While ranking as KenPom's 13th-best team in terms of of Adjusted Efficiency Margin, there are serious — and valid — questions regarding what to expect from Kelvin Sampson's squad.

With just the 96th-toughest strength of schedule in the country — worst of KenPom's top 20 teams — the Cougars played just two teams ranked at the time of their meeting: Oregon and Cincinnati (twice). And in the American Atheltic Conference Tournament championship game, Houston got beat handily by those Bearcats, 69-57. — PJ Walsh

• Record: 31-3
• Adj. Efficiency Rank: 13
• Adj. Offensive Efficiency Rank: 19
• Adj. Defensive Efficiency Rank: 17
• Tempo Rank: 236

All advanced metrics via KenPom as of Friday, March 15

Georgia State's Statistical Profile

At 13-5 in Sun Belt play, Georgia State was the top seed in their conference tournament and beat #2 Texas State in relatively convincing fashion Sunday. Though they took care of their Sun Belt foes, they didn’t do a ton outside of their conference.

They didn’t have much of a chance, either, as their one game against a ranked opponent was a 12-point loss at Kansas State. They did have two fairly impressive wins, with one coming against East Tennessee State (#69 in the nation per KenPom) and at Alabama (#60).

This is their fifth NCAA Tournament berth and third of the decade. Last year, they were knocked out in the first round by #2 Cincinnati, but back in 2015, they upset #3 Baylor as a #14 seed. Down by two with the clock running down, R.J. Hunter hit a deep three to give them a one point win. Will they have any magic like that up their sleeves again this year? — Mark Gallant

• Record: 23.9
• Adj. Efficiency Rank: 121
• Adj. Offensive Efficiency Rank: 95
• Adj. Defensive Efficiency Rank: 165
• Tempo Rank: 75

All advanced metrics via KenPom as of Friday, March 15

Sean Koerner's Houston-Georgia State Projections

Sean Koerner's proprietary projections also power our Bracket Simulator, which helps you find the most optimal bracket for your pool size.

• Spread: Houston -12
• Total: 140
• Proj Score: Houston 76 | Georgia State 64
• Win Probability: Houston 88.2% | Georgia State 11.8%