My 10* NON-CONFERENCE TOTAL OF THE MONTH is on the over between SIU Edwardsville and Houston at 2:00 EST. It's No. 1 seed Houston up against No. 16 seed SIU Edwardsville. The Cougars punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament after beating Southeast Missouri State by a score of 69-48 in the title game of the OVC Tournament back on March 8th. Houston went on to win the Big 12 Tournament by pulling away for a 72-64 victory over Arizona on Friday. These teams are both great defensively, but with a few extra days off between games, I'm expecting these offenses to benefit and for these clubs to come close to duplicating their offensive output from their respective previous outings. Overall SIU Edwardsville averages 72.6 points per game, while allowing 66.1, while Houston averages 74.2, while conceding only 58.5. Houston is a huge favorite here and that's why I'm steering clear of this ridiculous spread. I think the value for sure lies with the total, and in my opinion, this O/U line is much too low. Expect Houston to push the pace and for SIU Edwardsville to match that tempo and in the process, look for this total to fly well over the number.