Big 12 Tournament: No. 5 Houston vs No. 2 Arizona Preview, Odds, Predictions (March 14)

• The Cougars have won their last five games going into the title game.
• The Wildcats are on fire with eight consecutive victories.
• This marks the seventh all-time meeting between the Big 12 programs.

The March 14 schedule is loaded with plenty of big tournament matchups as the Big 12 Championship will go down on Saturday night with the No. 5 Houston Cougars taking on the No. 2 Arizona Wildcats. The latter stands tall as the slight favorite, displaying the high quality both teams have to come out on top as the conference champion.

How to Watch

• When: Saturday, March 14, 6 pm ET
• Where: T-Mobile Center, Kansas City, Missouri
• How to Watch: ESPN

NCAA Matchup Odds & Lines

Game Preview

The No. 5 Cougars (28-5, 14-4 Big 12) hope to get back to the national championship game with Kelvin Sampson leading the way, taking down BYU in the Big 12 quarterfinals and Kansas in the semifinals. Kingston Flemings scored 21 points, freshman forward Chris Cenac Jr. had 17 points and a career-high 14 rebounds to lead Houston past Kansas. They coasted into their second consecutive championship game and the 19th in school history.

The No. 2 Wildcats (31-2, 16-2 Big 12) advanced to the title game 15 times and will be looking for its 10th conference tournament crown tonight. Tommy Lloyd was named National Coach of the Year by The Sporting News on Thursday. He is also one of 15 head coaches on the Late Season Watch List for Naismith Coach of the Year. Meanwhile, Jaden Bradley’s game-winning jumper at the buzzer to give Arizona the win over Iowa State was the first buzzer-beater by a Wildcat since Azuolas Tubelis against Arizona State in 2021. Bradley finished with 15 points, seven assists and no turnovers to become just the second Wildcat in the last 30 years to post that line in a conference tournament game.

Houston vs Arizona Head-to-Head

The two programs have had six meetings in their history, and the result is 4-2 for the Wildcats. The last matchup was in February this year when Arizona secured a 73-66 win on the road.

Houston vs Arizona Predictions

Houston and Arizona will have high expectations as teams who should make deep runs in the NCAA Tournament regardless of what happens in the Big 12 Championship game. The Wildcats aspire to become champions with Tommy Lloyd leading the squad, while Kelvin Sampson is on a mission to reach the mountaintop. The Cougars are on a mission to make a serious title run, something they can truly start by taking down Arizona in the conference championship game. Our betting pick here is for the Cougars to cover a 1.5-point spread.

• Free NCAAB pick: Houston Cougars +1.5