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Jim ‘Mattress Mack’ McIngvale Makes $1 Million March Madness Wager on Houston Cougars

Sports betting’s highest roller has made his pick.

Patrick Andres

Jim ‘Mattress Mack’ McIngvale Makes $1 Million March Madness Wager on Houston Cougars
Jim ‘Mattress Mack’ McIngvale Makes $1 Million March Madness Wager on Houston Cougars /
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He’s at it again.

Over the last handful of years, Houston-based furniture mogul Jim McIngvale—known to all as “Mattress Mack”—has made headlines by placing a string of extravagant sports bets. Some have hit—his successful bet on the Houston Astros to win the 2022 World Series netted him an astounding $75 million.

Others, not so much: a $3 million bet on TCU in the 2023 national championship went phenomenally sideways as the Horned Frogs lost to Georgia 65–7.

Undeterred, and seemingly willing to support the local team, McIngvale has placed his latest bet: a $1 million wager on Houston to win the men’s national title, per Caesars Sportsbook.

McIngvale has the Cougars at +750 odds–meaning that he would win $7.5 million if Houston takes the crown.

The Cougars are off to a 25–3 start on the strength of a superb defense. Houston has never won a national championship, despite Final Four appearances in 1967, 1968, 1982, 1983, 1984 and 2021.

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Patrick Andres
PATRICK ANDRES

Patrick Andres is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in December 2022, having worked for The Blade, Athlon Sports, Fear the Sword and Diamond Digest. Andres has covered everything from zero-attendance Big Ten basketball to a seven-overtime college football game. He is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism with a double major in history .

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