Wait To Play It, But Take Kansas Either Way

Kansas vs. Oklahoma, 4:00 ET

College Hoops has been a great ride this season and I'm looking to continue it as we grow closer and closer to March Madness. There is still a lot of basketball to play, and that means upsets, dominant performances, shocking endings, and so much more. People love drama and there is no better drama than sports. The height of the unknown, the thrill of what is coming next. The goal, though, with sports betting is to eliminate that unknown and predict the future. That's precisely what we are looking to do here when we play a game between Kansas and Oklahoma. 

Kansas has been one of the better teams in the nation this season with a wide variety of rankings. Right now they sit with the sixth rank in the nation and are striving to continue that path despite some Big 12 struggles. They are 19-6 on the season but just 7-5 in conference play. Over the past five games, Kansas has gone just 3-2 with both losses being on the road. One of the losses was by almost 30 points - their most recent game against Texas Tech. They also dropped a game against Kansas State in overtime by five points. Those are obviously very drastically different outcomes, but most of their road losses this season are closer to the Kansas State game than Texas Tech. They fell by four points at Iowa State, six points at West Virginia, and five points at UCF. Kansas still has two very dominant players in Hunter Dickinson and Kevin McCullar Jr. McCullar Jr was out for the game against Texas Tech so that might be a big contributor to the loss. Unlike the professional rank, college teams don't have very clear injury reports. He didn't practice so he didn't play, but I think he could be back for this one. It wasn't the first time he missed a game then returned.  

The first time that Oklahoma took on Kansas, they were ranked ninth in the nation, but had to travel to Kansas to play. The Sooners dropped the game by 12 points. They were able to get through December with a 12-1 record. Since Big 12 play started, they've gone just 6-6. Their losses have been to Baylor, UCF, TCU, and Kansas on the road. At home, they also dropped two games to Texas and Texas Tech. The team is fairly inconsistent, but it does appear they get up for games against ranked opponents. On the season, they've played a ranked opponent six times and have gone 2-4 in those games. The wins saw them beat USC by two points on a neutral court, and a 16-point home victory over BYU. Their losses against ranked teams were not very close with the exception of a Texas Tech game, one where they dropped by one point. The Sooners were able to keep the game close in their first matchup against Kansas for the first half before Kansas pulled away in the second. That first game saw both teams have three guys in double figures and neither team shoot particularly well from deep. 

I think the best way to play this game is on Kansas's side. Based on past performances Oklahoma has shown they either win this game outright or lose by a wide margin. If McCullar plays, I think Kansas looks to make a statement and get back on track after that ugly Texas Tech game. If he doesn't play this will be a much harder win for them, they might even be underdogs. In that case take the points. My best advice for this is to take this as close to tip as possible or after McCullar's status is announced. I'm taking Kansas either way, but will wait to grab the best number. 

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