(4) Kansas vs. (13) Samford: Betting Tips, Prediction, and Betting Odds

A lot of people are all over this game to be the big upset of the first round. Samford has only five losses this season, is 5th in the NCAA in scoring at 86 points per game, and Kansas will be without their leading scorer for at least this game in Kevin McCullar. The spread reflects that right now at just 6.5 points, still favoring Kansas, however.

At one point this season Kansas was the No. 1 team in the nation. They finished the year just inside the top 20. Their second loss of the season didn’t come until January 10th. After Kevin McCullar got injured it was a quick exit in the Big 12 Tournament for them. They lost to Cincinnati by 20 points and scored 52 in that game. Without Kevin McCullar this team could struggle to score again.

Samford can score with the best of them and Kansas has just an average defense. This one may be closer than a lot of people think. Looking at a former No. 1 team from this season and seeing them matched up as the four seed vs a 13, you would think the spread is easily in the double digits. At 6.5 points right now, that may not be small enough.

Samford +6.5 is available at the time of publishing. Playable at that number.

Samford can undoubtedly score and play fast. With Kansas being without their top scorer, I think this game could be close. A lot of experts are even picking this game as an upset for Samford to win outright. I’m not ready to go that far but the spread keeps shrinking in this one. It’s a good matchup for Samford who has been great in an underrated Southern Conference.

Kansas is using this game to get healthy but this matchup should scare them. They are still fairly big favorites to come away with a win but if Samford can get hot Kansas doesn’t have the firepower they were used to having earlier in the season. Look for a close game in this one and I like Samford to make this a good one down the stretch.

Under 153.5 Total Points is available at the time of publishing. Playable at that number.

This is a high total, even for Samford who is the 5th highest scoring team in the nation. They hit over this total in a little less than half of their games at 47% of the time but missed it in two of their last three games. This is also the toughest opponent they have played by far this season.

Kansas can score the ball but like we mentioned they are missing their top scorer. They also only hit this line in 31% of their games this year. If Kansas is going to win this game, which is expected to be fairly close, they will likely do so with their defense, shutting down this high scoring Samford team.

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