NCAA Basketball Best Bets & Parlays for Feb 21: No. 4 Arizona vs. No. 2 Houston Headlines Saturday Slate

Sports fans, we’ve got another great Saturday of college basketball action coming our way. Many of the best teams in the country are scheduled to play, like No. 4 Arizona Wildcats and No. 2 Houston Cougars. I’ll take a deep dive into that game, along with a few others, in today’s best NCAA basketball bets post.

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Of the top 25 teams in the AP Poll, 20 of them will be taking the court today. So, if you prefer to stick to betting on the big dogs, you’ve got options today. Let’s examine a few of them.

NCAA Best Bets for Saturday, Feb. 21

No. 4 Arizona Wildcats vs. No. 2 Houston Cougars

Arizona held the top spot in the AP Poll for a long time, but when you ascend as early as they did, it just means you have more time to fall. But in the long run, a loss at this time of the year could be beneficial. Why? Because now they have some adversity to overcome. They’ll have reason to reexamine how they play and figure out how to come back even better than before.

That will be a little harder without star freshman Koa Peat on the court.

But they appeared to bounce back just fine against No. 23 BYU on Wednesday, winning 75-68. However, they were favored by 11.5 points at home against a team with a mediocre defense (No. 207 in the country) that had just lost one of its best players to an injury (Richie Saunders).

An argument could be made that an Arizona offense ranked No. 13 in the country and No. 1 in the Big 12 should have won by more against a team with the ninth-best defense in the conference.

Houston is not as strong an offensive team as BYU; Houston’s offense ranks 12th in the Big 12, to BYU’s No. 2. So, maybe they can get away with a similar effort against the Houston Cougars? Possibly, but their offense will be facing one of the best defenses in the country. So, there certainly isn’t much (if any) room for error.

The Cougars' defense has been truly elite at home, allowing just 54.5 points per game. But their issues have been on the offensive end of the court, where they average just 77.8 points per game (No. 141 in the country; No. 12 in the Big 12).

Arizona vs. Houston Best Bet & Prediction

With their defense, their offensive production is sufficient against most teams. But Arizona plays well on both ends of the court. So, can Houston’s defense neutralize enough of the Wildcat’s offense to make up for their lack of offensive firepower? But Arizona also has a stingy defense…

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• Arizona vs. Houston  Pick: UNDER 141.5 at -110 (FanDuel)

This is a game where either team has a solid chance of winning. Who will win will depend on who can get a few more shots to fall in crunch time than the other team. Koa Peat’s absence is a concern for the Wildcats, but they have other weapons that can put up points.

But the dominance that Houston’s defense has shown at home can’t be ignored. So, yeah—either team could win, but regardless of the victor, the final score will be low.

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NCAA Best Bets: Big 12 Parlay Pick

• Cincinnati vs. No. 8 Kansas: UNDER 138.5 at -110

Here we have two teams that rank among the lowest in the conference in scoring (Cincinnati—15th and Kansas—13th) that play solid defense (Cincinnati—4th in the Big 12 and Kansas—5th). Cincinnati has had two 90+ point games recently, but I think they are isolated incidents.

Defense will rule the day in this game, keeping the final score low.

• Kansas State vs. No. 13 Texas Tech: UNDER 159.5 at -110

Texas Tech is, without a doubt, the better of the two teams in this matchup today. But I’m not comfortable laying 13.5 points when we don’t know how they’ll adjust to the loss of JT Toppin yet. K-State has a lousy defense, but Toppin was a significant part of the Red Raiders' offense.

The UNDER has been 5-4 for K-State on the road and 8-7 for Texas Tech at home. Because of Toppin’s injury, I have to go with the UNDER here.

• No. 6 Iowa State vs. No. 23 BYU: UNDER 155.5 at -110

BYU has been a solid home team this season (12-2), but I’m concerned about their offense with the recent loss of Richie Saunders. It didn’t look too good in their recent loss to Arizona (75-68). Iowa State has a solid defense that has traveled well, but its offense has been inconsistent on the road.

It will be a good game, but I don’t see the TOTAL for this being too high. Take the UNDER.

• NCAA Parlay Odds: +595

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