Posted at 9:00 AM ET. Odds are subject to change

HOUSTON CHRISTIAN +14 over McNeese State

Sharp Gymnasium – Houston, TX

8:30 PM ET. This is all about the situational betting, a practice that we emphasize. At first glance, this number feels wrong. If you purely ran power ratings and recent results, Houston Christian should be catching something closer to 18–20 points here. Instead, we are sitting just below the low teens. When a line looks too short relative to perception, it is usually telling you something the box scores will not.

McNeese State is Southland royalty. They have brand equity at this level, March Madness credibility, and the kind of program reputation that inflates spreads by default. They just smashed East Texas A&M by nearly 40, dropped 102 points doing it, covered a 20-point line, and preceded that with an impressive road win at Rhode Island. On paper, this looks like another walkover. And that’s precisely why the average better would be so heavily infatuated with the Cowboys, especially with what appears as a “soft” number.

Houston Christian doesn’t have that shine. They’re 5–5, they don’t pop in headlines, and they don’t attract casual money. But this isn’t about who’s better in a vacuum — it’s about the spot. McNeese has a post-Christmas road trip to Michigan looming next, a marquee matchup against a team many consider the best in the country. This is the definition of a look-ahead situation. The Cowboys don’t need style points here. They need to get through the night healthy and move on and likely that is their own expectation as much as the market’s.

Historically, McNeese has handled HCU with ease, winning recent meetings by 16 or more. That history is baked into the number. But that same history can also be the very thing that causes the Boys to overlook the Huskies and perhaps even get tripped up. We are not asking HCU to do that, but that possibility exists. Houston Christian will treat this tilt like a measuring stick. These are meaningful minutes against the perennial conference power, an opportunity to compete without expectation. All they need to do is stay organized, knock down enough shots, and take advantage of a McNeese team that has every incentive to coast. Upset possibility is significant here but we’ll take the points.

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