Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs Houston Cougars Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 11/26/25

Coming off their first loss of the season, No.3 Houston will look to bounce back against Notre Dame in a consolation game of the Players Era Tournament. Houston shot the ball well against Tennessee, hitting 45.9% of their shots from the field, but their defense, typically their biggest strength, wasn’t as dominant as they expected. According to KenPom, Houston ranks 2nd in Adjusted Defensive Efficiency, and they should have no issues clamping down on this Notre Dame team, who is averaging just 78.1 points per game. 

In this tournament, the Fighting Irish dropped their matchup against Kansas by 10 and barely survived Rutgers with a 68-63 win. Notre Dame doesn’t have a lot of offensive firepower, with Markus Burton leading the way at 20.3 points and 2.3 rebounds per game.  As for the Cougars, they aren’t known for their offensive firepower, but their defense. Playing their third game in a row, fatigue may be starting to sit in for some of these players. Houston is by far the more talented team on paper, and Notre Dame hasn’t played great offensively in this tournament. The one thing Houston needs to try to limit in this matchup is the number of fouls. They allowed Tennessee to shoot 29 free throws, something they can’t afford to do against any team. Look for the Cougars to tighten things up on defense and rebound from their loss against Tennessee, making Houston my best bet of the day. 

Notre Dame vs Houston prediction: Houston -11.5 (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.