How to Bet Florida vs. Houston

March Madness is (almost) behind us.

Fortunately, we get a fascinating national championship matchup tonight before most of us turn our attention away from college hoops until next March.

Let’s start with a quick look back at Florida vs. Auburn. As you may have heard, Walter Clayton Jr. was once again unstoppable.

Later on Saturday night, we found out that Cooper Flagg and Duke were mortal, after all. No, I didn’t see that coming, either.

Turning the page to tonight, I could see Florida vs. Houston going in a number of different directions.

Sometimes, the outcome of a big game like this seems incredibly obvious. Yesterday’s UConn vs. South Carolina women’s matchup was a great example.

But nothing would surprise me in the clash between the Gators and the Cougars. That didn’t stop me from attempting to break down what to expect in two pieces we just published at Newsweek this morning:

On the record, I landed on Houston on the moneyline, the Under and Thomas Haugh Over 6.5 Rebounds as my favorite player prop and ATS picks.

I rarely recommend on betting on a game to go to overtime, but at longer than 10-to-1, it’s a tempting wager to consider if you, like me, are A) unsure how this one will go and/or B) interested in living a little.

Not to immediately contradict myself or anything (I would never), but I’ve also felt a growing suspicion that Houston might bully its way to a big win (a la Baylor over Gonzaga back in 2021).

If you’re with me on that, a play on Houston on the alt spread is a (much) more realistic longshot bet with some upside.

Houston alt spread -6.5 (+210) is available at FanDuel if you’re bullish on a big win by the veteran Cougars.

Now (link above), let’s talk about everyone’s favorite way to donate money to the sportsbooks bet: the parlay.

In general, I only recommend parlaying if you’re frequently getting all your single-leg bets right. In that case, you should absolutely be sure to start combining all the wagers you make into more lucrative parlays.

But there’s nothing wrong with cooking up a same-game parlay (SGP) or two tonight as you bet on college basketball for the last time for a while. Salute to those who will be back at it in November as opposed to next spring.

I gave out one all-Gators three-leg parlay with a +230 payout at FanDuel*:

Leg 1: Alijah Martin 10+ points (-290); Leg 2: Walter Clayton Jr. 4+ assists (-158); Leg 3: Thomas Haugh 6+ rebounds (-175)

Houston backers, consider the SGP below, which was listed at +226 early Monday afternoon:

Leg 1: J'Wan Roberts 6+ rebounds (-220); Leg 2: Milos Uzan 10+ points (-225); Leg 3: LJ Cryer 15+ points (-190).

*Each individual leg’s odds will change between now and tipoff, and the payouts on the parlays will also fluctuate throughout the day.