No. 2 Houston is a sizable betting favorite ahead of its Monday night duel with Syracuse basketball at the NIL-driven Players Era Festival in Las Vegas. Here is how to watch the non-conference encounter.
At the time of this writing, FanDuel had the Orange as a 12.5-point betting underdog against the Cougars, with the over/under set at 138.5 points. Given that Houston (5-0) is a heavyweight program that reached last season's national championship game, it's understandable for oddsmakers to anoint the Cougars as a heavy favorite versus the 'Cuse on a neutral floor.
Monday evening's affair looks to be a defensive slugfest, as in the early part of the 2025-26 campaign, both Houston and Syracuse basketball (4-0) are among the best in the country in fewest points allowed per game.
Three other statistical areas to monitor for Orange fans are rebounding, 3-point shooting and free-throw shooting. Houston is an excellent rebounding squad, and the Cougars pound the offensive glass hard.
Separately, neither Houston nor Syracuse basketball is a particularly good 3-point shooting team. To upset the Cougars, however, the 'Cuse will need to make some shots from beyond the arc. By extension, to date in 2025-26, Houston is making nearly 80 percent from the charity stripe. The Orange is at roughly 61 percent. That's a huge disparity.
Injury storylines to monitor for Syracuse basketball.
Okay. Over the weekend, as the 'Cuse was traveling to Las Vegas, there was a photo posted on social media that included sophomore forward Tyler Betsey, and he didn't have a boot on. That's encouraging, as he missed the Orange's win last week against Monmouth at home after suffering injury when the 'Cuse triumphed over Drexel in Philadelphia.
Vegas bound! ✈️ pic.twitter.com/SQAfGnJgkR
— Syracuse Men’s Basketball (@Cuse_MBB) November 22, 2025
Apparently, on Syracuse basketball's social media channels over the weekend, there was also a photo of sophomore power forward Donnie Freeman, where he had a boot on his right foot. I did not see the photo, and it was taken down shortly after it was first posted.
However, multiple people mentioned the photo to me. So on Sunday morning, I sent an e-mail to a Syracuse basketball spokesperson, asking about the status of both Freeman and Betsey for the game against Houston on Monday night.
As of Monday morning, when my column here was published on Inside The Loud House, I had not received a response to that e-mail. I'm not suggesting that either Freeman or Betsey won't play versus the Cougars, but it is something to monitor.
Freeman only appeared in 14 games as a freshman for the Orange due to a lower right-leg injury. Entering Monday evening's contest, he leads the 'Cuse in scoring at 17.8 points per encounter, to go along with 5.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.3 blocks per game.
Senior shooting guard J.J. Starling had missed much of the 2025-26 term, due to a lower-body injury, prior to returning in Syracuse basketball's victory against Monmouth at the JMA Wireless Dome.
This is a captain obvious statement, but the Orange's line-up will need to be as healthy as possible to have a shot to stun Houston in the Sin City. After Syracuse basketball faces the Cougars, the 'Cuse will play Kansas on Tuesday and a third foe that is to be determined on either Wednesday or Thursday at the Players Era Festival.