Sometimes you just have to write about the big game. We try here at BangTheBook to highlight the low and mid-major conferences as much as possible with our spotlight previews, but today’s mega matchup between Kansas and Baylor is just too big to overlook.
The Jayhawks are a nine-point underdog against the Bears in this matchup and some books, like Bookmaker Sportsbook, are showing indications of possibly moving the line up to 9.5. The total on the game is 140.5.
To put this in perspective, you have to go back to March 7, 2015 to find a spot when Kansas was an underdog of more than six points in a conference game. That was against Oklahoma on the road. SportsDatabase.com doesn’t even go back far enough to find a nine-point dog role. This is a big line and some rare air for the Jayhawks. For what it’s worth, here are Kansas’s games at +5 or higher in the last 15 years.
So, yeah, we have to talk about this one.
Kansas Jayhawks
Is it fair to say that this year’s version of the Jayhawks is good, but not great? The losses have come by 12 to Gonzaga, 25 to Texas, and five to Oklahoma State in Kansas’s most recent game. That road loss at Stillwater saw the Jayhawks shoot 5-of-21 from three for the second time this season. The other time they did that was a three-point win over a Kentucky team having a down year. The only other performance that bad or worse was in the 25-point loss to Texas when Kansas was 3-of-23 and just 20-of-65 from the field overall. The Jayhawks have played pretty well in most of their games, but it is pretty clear that they aren’t the same caliber of team that Bill Self is used to having in Lawrence. Of course, all of those narratives could change with a win tonight. The thing about Kansas this season is that the Jayhawks don’t really stand out in any big way. They’ve played the 28th-ranked strength of schedule and are still a top-30 team in adjusted offensive efficiency and a top-25 team in adjusted defensive efficiency. That being said, they are 211th in 2P% and 118th in 3P% on offense. Defensively, they are above average defending both the two and the three, but don’t really excel in either area. The Jayhawks are a great offensive rebounding team and Baylor does rank 207th in ORB% against, so some second-chance points could be enough to make this game closer than the line would suggest.CLAIM YOUR WELCOME BONUS AT BOOKMAKER SPORTSBOOK