Cincinnati Bearcats vs. West Virginia Mountaineers College Basketball prediction, preview
Cincinnati has been a solid home team at 8-2, and is coming off a home loss in which it was competitive against Houston. But the Bearcats have really struggled in both of these roles being away from home (0-4) and as an underdog (0-4). They also aren’t playing all that well, despite hanging around with Houston, coming in at 4-6 SU/3-7 ATS in their last 10 games.
West Virginia has been a completely different team based on where it plays this season — a perfect 9-0 at home versus 0-5 everywhere else. But the Mountaineers will be hosting this one, and I expect them to show up after getting throttled by an elite Iowa State squad over the weekend. WVU should almost certainly be able to limit Cincy’s offense, which has been practically non-existent. KenPom ranks the Bearcats’ offense at 218th in the country. They struggle to score in almost any setting, and now it has to face the 55th ranked defense in a true road atmosphere.
So the game will come down to if WVU can score, and I believe it will be able to at home. Now, Cincy does have an elite defense that KenPom ranks sixth in the country, so points won’t come easy. But fueled by a home crowd that has helped will the Mountaineers to the finish line all season, I think they’ll be able to find some opportunities on offense.
Cincy has lost its last five true road games, dating back to last season, and lost seven of the last nine in this matchup. These are two pretty even teams, but I can’t trust the Bearcats on offense on the road. WVU is a bit to cheap on the moneyline in their own building.
