NCAA Week Ahead: Kansas Boosts Odds, Rankings

· Feb 05 - 7 minutes read

Top Three Teams Still the Same in Associated Press Poll

UConn, Purdue and North Carolina remained the top three teams in the Associated Press poll. With nine of the top 15 teams suffering at least one loss this week, the rest of the poll had plenty of movement.

When looking at the college basketball betting lines, Kansas is a favorite on the road against Kansas State on Monday (9 p.m. ET, ESPN).

NCAA Week Ahead: Kansas Boosts Odds, Rankings — Zach Edey #15 of the Purdue Boilermakers | John Fisher/Getty Images/AFP

Grand Canyon and Purdue are both 21-2 this season while UConn is 20-2. Each team has at least two losses this season while Detroit Mercy and Mississippi Valley State are the only winless teams. Minnesota (19-3) has the best mark against the college basketball spread after covering in its last four games and 13 of the last 15.

Defending national champion UConn joins Purdue at +800 in the odds of winning the national title. When looking at the odds of winning March Madness, Houston (+900), North Carolina (+1200) and Arizona (+1400) are other top contenders. Houston and Purdue remain first and second in the NCAA NET rankings while UConn jumped over Arizona for the No. 3 spot.

End of an Era?

Gonzaga is the 11-time defending West Coast Conference regular-season champion. However, after falling at home to Saint Mary’s the Bulldogs fell two games behind Saint Mary’s in the WCC standings.

Saint Mary’s only faces two teams with winning records over the six contests so there is a chance that the Gaels could wrap up the WCC title before the March 1 rematch with Gonzaga.

As for some of the other conference races worth monitoring, North Carolina has a two-game lead on Virginia in the ACC, Purdue has opened a 1.5-point lead in the Big Ten while Houston and Kansas are tied atop the Big 12 standings, with Baylor, Texas Tech and Iowa State just a half-game back.

Arizona is alone in first place in the Pac-12 while Alabama leads Auburn and South Carolina by a game in the SEC.

What Might Have Been

Five double-digit underdogs won outright last week, with Rice, a 14.5-point underdog, topping Memphis 74-71 to lead the way.

South Carolina (+13.5) won at Tennessee 63-59, San Diego (+12.5) picked up a 70-59 win at Santa Clara. Boise State won at New Mexico and Butler picked up a win at Creighton join the other double-digit ‘dogs to pull off stunners.

There was some late-game drama for some other games as well.

Miami was down by four points with 30 seconds to go against North Carolina State when the Hurricanes had three shots to pull within either one or two points.

DJ Horne iced the game with four straight foul shots as the Wolfpack covered as the four-point favorite.

More than a few folks who bet online were paying attention when Silas Demary Jr. hoisted up a 3-pointer with seven seconds to play. Had it connected, Georgia would have covered as 6.5-point underdogs against Alabama. It was no good and the Crimson Tide won 85-76.

Colorado, a 3.5-point underdog, had two chances in the final 11 seconds to cover against Utah, only to see both 3-pointers miss the mark as the Utes won 73-68.

Boston College’s Quinten Post missed two free throws with five seconds left to play that would have put the Eagles up by seven points. Down by five, Syracuse had a chance at the back-door cover but JJ Starling’s late 3-pointer was off the mark as BC won 85-80 and covered as the 4.5-point favorite.

Iowa was a two-point underdog against host Indiana on Tuesday when Josh Dix had a look at a 3-pointer that would have brought the Hawkeyes within a point with 15 seconds left. After the miss, Anthony Leal made both foul shots as the Hoosiers covered with a 74-68 win.

A Look at the Polls

Thanks to a win over then-No. 4 Houston, Kansas is back in the top five in the Associated Press poll as the Jayhawks moved from eighth to fourth. Arizona jumped three spots to No. 8 with Illinois going from 14th to 10th.

POLL ALERT: UConn, Purdue, Tar Heels stay 1-2-3 atop AP Top 25 men’s poll; South Carolina joins for first time since 2017.

Full poll: https://t.co/ZJG5mgWrsa pic.twitter.com/KeHPiP94YS

— AP Top 25 (@AP_Top25) February 5, 2024

South Carolina made the biggest jump, landing at No. 15 after being out of the top 25 last week. Alabama went from 24th to 16th while Baylor moved from 18th to 13th.

On the other end of the spectrum, No. 23 Texas Tech fell eight positions and New Mexico went from 19th to 25th.

Game of the Week

No. 13 Baylor Bears vs No. 4 Kansas Jayhawks

Saturday, Feb. 10, 6 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Two of the last three national champions will meet for the first time this season. Kansas enters the week tied for Houston for first place in the Big 12 standings while Baylor is just a halfpgame out of first place.

Kansas is 13-0 at home this season while Baylor has split its four road games. Kansas has won the last three games against Baylor and covered in each of those contests.

RayJ Dennis is putting up 17.7 points, 6.3 assists, and 1.7 steals over the last three games for Baylor.

Hunter Dickinson had 20 points, eight rebounds and four assists in a win over Houston. He is averaging 18.7 points and 11.3 rebounds over the last three games.

Player of the Week

Lance Jones, Purdue

There is more to the Purdue team than national player of the year front-runner Zach Edey.

Jones, a senior guard, had eight 3-pointers and finished with 46 points as the Boilermakers overcame Northwestern in overtime and then went to No. 6 Wisconsin and won 75-69 to take over first place in the Big Ten standings.

The Southern Illinois transfer has given Purdue another 3-point threat as the Boilermakers are 10-0 when Jones has at least three 3-pointers.

Team of the Week

Butler Bulldogs

Butler followed up a double-overtime win at home against Villanova by going to No. 13 Creighton and winning one of the most entertaining games of the year in the Big East.

The Bulldogs shot 59% from 3-point range against Creighton with Jahmyl Telfort and DJ Davis combining for 46 points in the 99-98 win that moved them over the .500 mark in conference play.

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