Arizona Wildcats vs Houston Cougars Matchup

Check out our free Houston Cougars vs Arizona Wildcats pick and preview for this CFB week 12 game in Tucson. See who we like to win and cover the spread in this week 12 CFB matchup.

FS1 will be covering this week 12 matchup between the Houston Cougars and Arizona Wildcats, set to kick off at 10:15 ET at Arizona Stadium in Tucson. The Wildcats are the -2 point favorites at home, and the over/under line is currently at 44.5 points. Both teams are looking to get to .500 on the season, with Houston coming in at 4-5 and Arizona at 3-6. The money line odds are -123 for Arizona and +102 for Houston.

Cougars vs. Wildcats Matchup At A Glance

Sport: CFB
Teams: Houston Cougars at Arizona Wildcats
Where: Tucson at Arizona Stadium
Date: Friday, November 15th
Betting Odds ARZ -2, HOU +102 | ARZ -123 O/U 44.5

Cougars Preview:

Houston enters Week 12 against Arizona with a 4-5 record, ranked 74th in our power rankings. They have a 23.2% chance of becoming bowl-eligible. On the road, they are 1-3, while at home, they’ve gone 3-2 this season.

The Cougars’ ATS record stands at 5-4, with a -6.8 average scoring margin. They’ve been favored in just two games, going 1-1 ATS as favorites and 4-3 ATS as underdogs.

Houston’s over/under record is 1-8, with their games averaging 37.2 points. This week’s line is 44.5 points, compared to their average line of 46.7 points.

Cougars Offense Breakdown

Houston’s offense has struggled this season, averaging just 15.2 points per game, which ranks 96th nationally. They are 112th in our offensive power rankings heading into week 12. Their passing game has been particularly weak, with only 148.7 yards per game, placing them 121st in the country. Overall, they rank 111th in passer rating.

Quarterback Donovan Smith has thrown for 867 yards, with a passer rating of 68. He has four touchdowns but eight interceptions. Houston is converting only 27.5% of their third downs. On the ground, they average 145.1 rushing yards per game. Re’Shaun Sanford II leads the team with 300 rushing yards.

Cougars Team Defense

Houston's defense played a key role in their 24-19 win over Kansas State, allowing just 19 points. They held Kansas State to 99 rushing yards on 33 attempts and 238 passing yards, while also forcing two interceptions.

On the season, Houston is ranked 34th nationally, giving up 22 points per game. They’ve allowed 136 rushing yards per game and 185.7 passing yards, ranking 35th in the country.

Wildcats Preview:

The Cougars’ ATS record stands at 5-4, with a -6.8 average scoring margin. They’ve been favored in just two games, going 1-1 ATS as favorites and 4-3 ATS as underdogs.

Houston’s over/under record is 1-8, with their games averaging 37.2 points. This week’s line is 44.5 points, compared to their average line of 46.7 points.

Wildcats Offense Breakdown

Arizona’s offense has been centered around their passing game, ranking 28th in passing attempts per game. They are 40th in passing yards, averaging 259.8 yards per game, and 29th in completions. Overall, they are 78th in scoring, with 22.1 points per game, and 80th in our offensive power rankings heading into week 12.

Noah Fifita has thrown for 2,324 yards, with a passer rating of 83. He has 13 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Tetairoa McMillan leads the receivers with 1,066 yards and six touchdowns on 63 catches. Arizona is 113th in rushing, averaging 116 yards per game.

Wildcats Team Defense

Arizona's defense has struggled this season, allowing an average of 31.1 points per game. In their recent game against UCF, they gave up 56 points, including four rushing touchdowns, while allowing 406 total yards. UCF ran the ball 37 times for 177 yards and threw for 229 yards, though Arizona did manage to force one interception.

Opponents have averaged 173 rushing yards per game against Arizona, ranking them 122nd nationally. The Wildcats have faced 30.3 passing attempts per game, allowing 223.6 yards per game through the air. Quarterbacks have completed 63.7% of their passes and hold a passer rating of 100.1 against Arizona’s defense.

Cougars vs Wildcats Betting Odds, Trends & Analysis

When looking at their past five road matchups, Houston has an ATS record of 3-2 while averaging 13 per game. The team went 1-4 overall in these games.
Through their last three home games, Arizona has an ATS record of just 1-2. However, their overall record was 1-2 while averaging 18 points per game.
Going back to their previous ten games as the underdog, Houston has an ATS mark of 6-4 while going 4-6 straight up.
Looking back on the team's last three games as the favorite, the Arizona Wildcats have a straight up record of 0-3. Their record vs the spread in these games was 0-3.