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The Samford Bulldogs take on the Kansas Jayhawks. Check out our Men's March Madness odds series for our Samford Kansas prediction and pick. Find how to watch Samford Kansas.
The Kansas Jayhawks won the 2022 national championship in men's college basketball. They are an unquestioned blue-blood program with a record of remarkable consistency. Earlier this century, they won 14 straight Big 12 championships (outright or shared). Bill Self is quite possibly the best coach in the sport. Last year, Kansas was a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. This is a heavyweight program with elite standards.
However, in 2024, the Jayhawks do not look like a team capable of threatening to make a run at the Final Four, and they might not have the level of health needed to pull off a March Madness surge.
It was announced earlier this week that Kevin McCullar, one of KU's two best players, will not play in this game against Samford. McCullar missed the Big 12 Tournament last week. It was hoped that he would be able to recuperate for this game and this week, but it didn't happen. Meanwhile, KU's other prime player, big man Hunter Dickinson, faces questions about how effective he will be if he does play. He also missed the Big 12 Tournament last week with an injury. If you were wondering how much KU missed both Dickinson and McCullar, the Jayhawks were shredded by Cincinnati, 72-52. Cincinnati is not an NCAA Tournament team. Cincy was favored to win that game due to the two big Kansas injuries, but only by 2.5 points. Cincy won by 20. Kansas just does not have the depth or the shooting needed to compensate for injury absences to its best players. All eyes will be on Dickinson to see if he can do the heavy lifting for this team with McCullar out.
Here are the Samford-Kansas Men's March Madness odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
Men's March Madness Odds: Samford-Kansas Odds
Samford Bulldogs: +7.5 (-120)
Kansas Jayhawks: -7.5 (-102)
Over: 152.5 (-110)
Under: 152.5 (-110)
How To Watch Samford vs Kansas
Time: 9:55 pm ET / 6:55 pm PT
TV: TBS
Stream: fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why Samford Could Cover the Spread
The Bulldogs are led by coach Bucky McMillan, the author of “Bucky Ball.” Samford applies relentless ball pressure and can rattle a Kansas backcourt which will be less potent and formidable without Kevin McCullar. Samford would have had a real chance to cover the spread even if Kansas was at full strength, but now with McCullar out, Samford has a genuine backcourt advantage and — at the very least — should be able to keep this game close. The spread feels overly generous to Kansas at 7.5. One could make a very reasonable argument that the spread should be closer to 5.5 or 4.5. Therefore, Samford against the spread is a really good play here.
Why Kansas Could Cover the Spread
The Jayhawks are still a good team. Samford is still a small-conference team. Kansas's backups have a point to prove, and Bill Self is not the best coach in America by accident. He can come up with a good game plan which will take Samford out of its offense and create a rugged game the Jayhawks will be equipped to win. Kansas can feed into a “no one expects us to win” narrative and play with a chip on its shoulder.
Final Samford-Kansas Prediction & Pick
The McCullar injury is impossible to ignore. Samford should cover. Take Samford.
Final Samford-Kansas Prediction & Pick: Samford +7.5
