A 10 seed vs. a 7 seed should not have a spread as large as we have here! In fact the #11 seeded Tulane is +6.5 against the #5 seeded Sothern Miss. The reason we have a spread so large here is that on their home court East Carolina lost by 19 to Houston. Houston has the #1 offense in the conference USA but they also have the worst defense.

I believe in their coaches last game East Carolina will give that extra effort that gives them the cover. The key will be not turning the ball over because on every other level these two are pretty close to even. In the first match up Houston was just drilling threes at 41.7% and East Carolina defense on the road at 31.5%. I actually think theset wo teams are closer to even if they are on the road. East Carolina -7.9pts while Houston -2.6 points. The biggest differences are Houston -11.2 rebound margin and +7 turnover margin. If East Carolina can have a rebound advantage here this game stays close.