The West Virginia Mountaineers have won four of their five games in February, but none of those victories have come against an opponent like the Kansas State Wildcats.
Let’s take a closer look at this Big 12 Conference
matchup from a betting perspective, with the opening tip scheduled for 9:00
p.m. ET on ESPN.
Turning things around?
West Virginia is seemingly turning things around, as it
comes off a 66-64 victory over the Texas Tech Red Raiders as 13.5-point home
favorites last Saturday, while going UNDER the total for the third time in four
contests.
The Mountaineers are 4-1 in their last five games, but
beating the Red Raiders (twice), TCU Horned Frogs and Texas Longhorns in that
stretch isn’t very impressive. The
program is 4-10 straight up and 5-9 against the spread (ATS) versus winning teams
during the 2012-13 campaign.
Three-way tie atop the conference
Kansas State is tied atop the Big 12 Conference standings
with Kansas and Oklahoma State, as it picked up a convincing 81-61 win over the
Baylor Bears as 4.5-point home favorites last time out, while going OVER the
total for a third consecutive contest.
All three of the Wildcats’ losses this year have come
versus a quality opponent, including an 83-62 setback to the Kansas Jayhawks as
7.5-point road underdogs Feb. 11—an opponent that was looking to snap a
three-game losing streak.
Missing the mark with revenge
The Mountaineers are 1-7 ATS when revenging a same season
loss versus an opponent over the last two-plus seasons, which is important to
consider when making your NCAA basketball picks Monday night. West Virginia has missed the mark in both
opportunities in that situation this year.
February boom
The Wildcats have tallied a school-record seven
consecutive 20-win seasons, with a lot of that success coming in the second
month of a calendar year, as they’ve gone 29-7 in February the last five
seasons.
On the other side of the court in this matchup, the
Mountaineers are 11-9 in that situation the last two-plus seasons, including a
7-13 ATS mark in that situation.
Prediction
I’m going to recommend that readers back the Wildcats as
one of their sports picks tonight, as they may be
undervalued in this spot, especially with the Mountaineers seemingly turning
things around. Kansas State will improve
to 6-1 ATS in its last seven games at Bramlage Coliseum.
College Basketball Pick: Kansas State Wildcats -10.5 at Bookmaker