Could A Championship Preview Loom On Saturday Afternoon?

Houston vs. Kansas, 4:00 ET

Could it be that the world has blessed us with a potential College Basketball championship game preview? Well, a lot of things would need to happen for this to be the case, but either way, at least we get a good game on Saturday for us to enjoy. Right in the middle of the day full of college games, we get a matchup between #4 Houston, and the #8 Kansas Jayhawks. 

Houston is one of those teams that flies a bit under the radar. They don’t have the pedigree of the more well known Kansas program, but they’ve been good for years and have made a name for themselves. Typically, I have put them as more of an offensive minded program, but this year especially they have done a lot on defense to lock teams down. In fact, they are only allowing opponents to score 52.9 points per game. And, before you say "Well, they play no one special," let me tell you that you’re only partly correct. Sure, their schedule isn’t the toughest out there, but they are still winning games. They lost at Iowa State but held the Cyclones to just 57 points. They also lost at TCU, but held them to 68 points. They aren’t letting teams walk all over them and they continue to pressure the ball. Their best offense may be their defense as it leads to transition buckets and doesn’t let their opponent get set. Since those two losses, Houston has beaten Texas Tech, UCF, BYU, Kansas State, and Texas. Again, not great opponents, but they still won the games. Only once in that span did a team get over 70 points on them and it was an overtime game. 
 

Kansas is one of the perennial picks to make it deep in the NCAA tournament and this year is no different. They have a strong center and good guard play that will make them a tough out not only in the tournament but also any game they play. After dropping a game to Marquette earlier in the season, they ran their record to 13-1 before losing at UCF. Since that game they are 4-3, also losing to West Virginia and Iowa State. All three of those losses came when they were on the road. At home, they’ve been rather dominant. They’ve only had one game this season at home that was a close game. Everything has been a victory by nine or more points. I am curious to see how they deal with the relentless Houston defense. Kansas is good about moving the ball and has a solid playmaker in Dajuan Harris. He is somewhat turnover prone which could cause some issues for the team, but he also is very good at finding his teammates in space which will allow for the Jayhawks to have a chance. 

The matchup indicator on different sites say that Houston has a 75% chance to win this game and I just think that’s too high. It is hard to win on the road in any professional sport. Now try doing that with a bunch of kids that still have to study for a math test. I like Kansas on their home court and think they could win this game outright. I’ll take the point with them, but don’t be surprised if we see an "upset." 

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