Bill Self's Jayhawks have not received the respect they deserve this season, and the defending NCAA Champions will be out to get this tournament started on a winning note.
Kansas hasn’t gotten a lick of respect from the betting markets all year. In game after game the wise guys played against the Jayhawks; in game after game the wiseguys lost money.
That’s how the Jayhawks – The team that won the national title last year; the team that won the Big 12 this year; a public team if there ever was one – finished as the second-best major conference pointspread team in the country, a near impossible task.
Well the wiseguys are doing it again, and this time they have the TV talking heads agreeing with them. All the pundits are claiming that North Dakota State is going to give Kansas a tough game. We saw the Bison play Minnesota earlier this year and the crowd was half North Dakota State supporters. And there’s no question that NDSU will have plenty of fans making the relatively short trip to Minneapolis for this one.
But let’s not forget how well Kansas travels either. The Jayhawks played in Vegas last year and it was a virtual home game for them. The trip from Lawrence to Minneapolis isn’t that much further than the trip for North Dakota State supporters. Kansas is going to enjoy a raucous crowd of their own, every bit as vocal as the Bisons supporters.
North Dakota St. played one game against an NCAA tournament team this year – at Minnesota. They lost that game by 14. In their previous lined game, last year at Cal, they also lost by 14 against a .500 Cal squad. The Summit League was one of the weakest conferences in all of college basketball this year. Yes, the Bison have a starting five of seniors, but remember, these guys have never played in a game of this magnitude in their lives. They are not Kansas in terms of size, speed, poise or experience.
Sherron Collins in the backcourt and Cole Aldrich in the frontcourt have the potential to be impact players at the next level, far superior than anybody North Dakota State has faced this year. The only underrated, undervalued team on this floor is the cheaply priced favorite.
Free Pick: Kansas -9½ (-110)
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