Notre Dame vs Houston Game Information

Notre Dame vs Houston Preview

The last game on the docket on Thanksgiving Eve sees No. 6 Houston (3-1) facing Notre Dame (4-1) in the Players Era Festival – Impact Tournament from the MGM Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Both teams head in with just 1 loss with ACC side the Fighting Irish losing to Elon in their last game (84-77) with the Cougars falling to Auburn (74-69) on November 9. Both Notre Dame and Houston have been Favorites in every game they have played this year. The Fighting Irish have gone 13-20 under (2023) new Head Coach Micah Shrewsbury and have devolved much over the past 2 seasons. Houston was the No. 1 seed in its NCAA Tournament South Regional last season and beat Longwood and Texas A&M before being bounced from the Big Dance by Duke in the Regional Semifinals (76-64).

Notre Dame Looks to Rebound After Elon Loss

Notre Dame (2-3-0 ATS, 4-1-0 O/U) is led by do-it-all G Markus Burton (21.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 5.2 apg), G Braeden Shrewsberry (14.8 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 3.0 apg)—the son of the Head Coach—F Tae Davis (12.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg), G Matt Allocco (8.0 ppg, 3.8 rpg), and F Kebba Njie (8.0 ppg, 6.2 rpg) and hope to improve on last season’s 13-20 mark (7-13 in ACC). But an outright loss as a 15.5-Point Favorite vs Elon last game speaks volumes. In the respected Ken Pomeroy Ratings, the Fighting Irish are currently ranked No. 69, while the Phoenix check in at No. 166, so this could be another long season in South Bend.

Notre Dame Betting Trends

• Notre Dame is 1-3 ATS in its last 4 games overall
• The Under was 21-12 in ND’s 33 games last year (63.6%)
• The Fighting Irish went 18-15-0 ATS last season
• The Over is 6-2 in the L8 Fighting Irish games 
• Notre Dame was a -1800 Moneyline Favorite vs Elon (+900)

No. 6 Houston Deeper Than the Fighting Irish

Houston (3-1-0 ATS, 2-2-0 O/U) will provide a tough matchup with Notre Dame with its pressure defense (#3 in forcing TO’s in 2023) and proven ability to run out to early leads as the Cougars did in their opener vs Jackson State, leading 52-13 after 20 minutes. Houston (32-5 SU, 17-18-1 ATS in 2023-24) saw stud Jamal Shead leave for the NBA Draft (Raptors), but with LJ Cryer (11.3 ppg), J’Wan Roberts (10.3 ppg), Emmanuel Sharp (11.8 ppg), Milos Uzan (8.8 ppg, 4.5 rpg), Terrance Arceneaux (9.5 ppg), and Joseph Tugler (8.5 ppg, 5.8 rpg), the Cougars can hang with anyone and should be a Sweet Sixteen team and maybe Elite Eight combatant in March. Houston was No. 1 in the nation in allowing the fewest Points Per Possession, and were No. 10 in Fewest TO’s Per Possession last season.

Houston Betting Trends

• Whoever has won the last 10 Houston games has also covered ATS
• The Cougars were a perfect 17–0 SU at the Fertitta Center last season
• Houston was 17-18-2 ATS last season
• The Cougars are 32-6 in its L38 on the First Half Moneyline
• The Under is 2-0 in Houston’s last 2 games

Notre Dame vs Houston Prediction

Thanksgiving Eve will conclude with this late game which will tip off at 12:30 EST and 9:30 PST locally here in Sin City. This Notre Dame vs Houston prediction and free NCAAB pick will weigh heavily the Fighting Irish’s surprise loss in the last game to Elon. So are the Phoenix some kind of underrated giant-killers? Nope. Elon lost to Gardner Webb already this season, so the Fighting Irish losing as an 1,800 Monyline monster chalk tells us they won’t be able to hang with this Houston team for 40 minutes. The Cougars average 84.3 ppg (#56) and allow only 50.8 ppg. Christmas came early for Houston who landed Top 10 prospect C Chris Cenac Jr.—he is its highest ranked recruit ever—and the Cougars now have the No. 2 recruiting class for 2025 in the US.

Kevin’s Pick: Houston -14.5