Lehigh Mountain Hawks vs Houston Cougars Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 11/03/25

The Lehigh Mountain Hawks and the Houston Cougars will face off on Monday for a non-conference showdown. The 2025-26 college basketball season tips off tomorrow and this will be the first game for both teams. Houston was one of the best teams in the country last season, losing in the national championship and this year should be no different. The Cougars are the No. 2 team in the preseason AP Poll and are the preseason #1 team at Bart Torvik, KenPom, Evan Miya, Haslametrics and more.

Houston still has Hall of Fame coach Kelvin Sampson running the show and has 44.2% of their minutes returning from last year’s national runner up team. Guards Milos Uzan and Emanuel Sharp should be too much for the Lehigh guards. Lehigh is the No. 306 team according to KenPom and will likely be outmatched athletically by Houston.

The spread is currently -37.5 in favor of Houston and that is our best bet of this game. It is a big spread, but Houston should outclass Lehigh on both sides of the ball. According to KenPom, Lehigh’s offense is projected to be the No. 322 offense nationally while Houston is expected to have the best defense in the country. The Cougars had the best defense in the country last season according to KenPom, and we do not see Lehigh being able to score consistently enough to cover the big spread. Take Houston to cover the 37.5 point spread.

*Houston -37.5 available at time of publishing. Playable at -39*