Cincinnati vs. SMU March 3 NCAA Basketball Betting Preview & Picks

The Cincinnati Bearcats will travel to Dallas to take on the SMU Mustangs at 7 p.m. ET for their final game of the college basketball season. We should be in for a close and exciting basketball match!

The Bearcats are coming off a 71-53 defeat against the American Athletic Conference champions Houston Cougars . With last night’s win, the Cougars clinched the American Conference regular-season championship and will look to win the tournament championship next week.

SMU will have one more game after this matchup with the Bearcats to finish off their season. They will host Tulane on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET. They will be hoping to turn it around as they also lost to Houston in their last matchup.

Let’s look ahead at one of the final games of this college basketball regular season.

Expected Odds

SMU will definitely be the favorite over the Bearcats, who have lost four straight and six out of their last ten. SMU will be on their home floor and are one of the top teams in the American Athletic Conference. SMU holds an 7.5 point advantage over Cincinnati in the opening spread. 

I expect the Bearcats to cover against an inconsistent SMU team. This is not to say that the Bearcats are consistent by any means. They have had a disappointing season, but you would suspect that they need to win this game to get them back on the right foot going into a vital American Athletic Conference tournament.

Match Prediction

All in all, there is no doubt that the Cincinnati Bearcats are the better team in this matchup and should have no problems covering the 7.5 point betting spread. 

American Athletic Conference Standings

SMU will most likely finish just below the Houston Cougars in second in the American Athletic Conference. They currently have a record of 11-4 in the conference and 2.5 games behind Houston. Cincinnati has a record of 7-10 and find themselves with a lot of work to do if they want to make the NCAA tournament.

That 7-10 record leaves them in seventh in the American Athletic Conference. They will need to win the American Athletic conference to steal the automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.

American Athletic Conference Tournament Preview

Cincinnati is expected to finish just as they are now, in seventh, in the American Athletic Conference. They have a 67.8% chance of making the quarterfinals, 15.3% chance of making the semifinals, 6.14% chance of making the championship game, and only 1.5% chance of winning the American tournament and make it into the NCAA tournament.

SMU is expected to finish either second or third, depending on how the end of the season goes for both SMU and Memphis. The Mustangs will get a bye to make it to the quarterfinals. They have a 79.6% chance of making the semifinals, 51.1% chance of making the championship game, and 19.2% chance of winning the championship game.

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