$310 million-worth business tycoon makes whopping March Madness bet on Houston Cougars: reports

While the usual suspects (UNC, Kentucky, Purdue, etc) to win the NCAA hoops title has been flying around, one team seems to have flown relatively under the radar: the Houston Cougars. But people definitely believe in the team's chances, and you could count Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale among them.

The Gallery Furniture owner recently revealed he's bet a cool $1 million on his hometown Houston Cougars to win it all in this year's March Madness. Considering the man is worth $310 million (as per Marca), the bet doesn't seem to faze him one bit. Furthermore, the bet also is actually still tied to his business, specifically to a promo at his furniture store (via FOX Sports).

According to McIngvale, who's a well-known sports bettor in the nation, the promo involves customers who purchase mattress sets of $4,000 or more. Anyone who buys such will get those sets for free if the Cougars win it all this year.

Furthermore, the $1 million bet works as follows: Houston's odds at +750 mean he could stand to profit $7.5 million and earn a total payout of $8.5 million.

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Mattress Mack's huge bets in the past

As previously mentioned, McIngvale's million-dollar bet on the Houston Cougars is nothing new. He's notably bet enormous sums on his other hometown teams like the Houston Astros, the Cougars back in the 2023 NCAA tournament, and sometimes even non-local teams like the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2022 Super Bowl (via Yahoo). He bet an insane $5 million on the Bengals that year, only for them to lose to the Los Angeles Rams.

McIngvale famously bet $500,000 on the Houston Cougars last year to win the national championship (they obviously didn't), with his bet making the rounds of local news stories:

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Do the Houston Cougars have a chance at the NCAA championship?

For those who believe the old basketball adage that "defense wins championships," the Cougars have everything they need to go that deep in this year's tournament.

All year long, HC Kelvin Sampson and his boys have been putting their NCAAM foes in straightjackets every single game. Currently ranked as the best team in the country according to the latest AP Polls, the Houston Cougars can't score much--but they will completely drag you down to the dirt with them.

They've limited their opponents to an atrocious average of 56.2 PPG on 37.7% FG shooting, while also completely stifling them from three-point land (30.0% 3FG). Aside from that, the team remains elite in their perimeter defense and rim protection as well.

If the Cougars can indeed win, then their defense will have to completely carry them through.