The Iowa State Cyclones take on the Kansas Jayhawks. Check out our Big 12 Tournament odds series for our Iowa State Kansas prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Iowa State Kansas.
The Big 12 Conference Tournament delivered some weird results on Thursday in the quarterfinal round, but Kansas was not part of the weirdness. The Jayhawks steamrolled West Virginia and moved two wins from not only a tournament championship, but a Big 12 “double,” meaning that they could win the Big 12 Tournament and regular-season championships. If KU can win that Big 12 double, it will very likely become the No. 1 overall seed at the NCAA Tournament. The Jayhawks are assured of being a No. 1 seed in one of the four NCAA Tournament regions, but they are gunning for the top spot on the board.
In terms of the weird results from Thursday's tournament action, the Iowa State Cyclones won their third game of the season against the Baylor Bears. Imagine having anyone tell you before the Big 12 basketball season began that ISU would sweep Scott Drew's Bears in three consecutive games. It speaks to the job Iowa State head coach T.J. Otzelberger has done this season. He has done so many improbable things in just two seasons on the job in Ames.
If there's one way in which ISU's win over Baylor was not weird, it is this: Iowa State loves playing at the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City. Cyclone fans often refer to Kansas City as “Hilton South,” a reference to Hilton Coliseum, ISU's home arena. The Cyclones regularly have more fans in the building than any other Big 12 fan base … except for Kansas. The atmosphere will be electric inside the arena for this Big 12 semifinal.
Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Iowa State-Kansas Big 12 Tournament odds.
Big 12 Tournament Odds: Iowa State-Kansas Odds
Iowa State Cyclones: +4.5 (-110)
Kansas Jayhawks: -4.5 (-110)
Over: 136.5 (-110)
Under: 136.5 (-110)
How To Watch Iowa State vs. Kansas
TV: ESPN
Stream: ESPN+
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET, 4:00 p.m. PT
*Watch Iowa State-Kansas LIVE with fuboTV (Click for free trial)*
Why Iowa State Could Cover the Spread
This is a tough Iowa State team. Head coach T.J. Otzelberger had a mini-crisis on his hands a few weeks ago, with the Cyclones losing four straight and six of seven. The Cyclones kicked guard Caleb Grill off the team, clearly pointing to something internal which happened at some point during the season and disrupted the team's ability to function properly. Since the Grill dismissal, ISU has immediately played far better than it did in February. This certainly suggests that Otzelberger solved a problem which was dragging down the team but no longer exists. The really good ISU team seen in January is now back in evidence in March.
Kansas does not have coach Bill Self on the bench for this game. Self will miss the full Big 12 Tournament as he recovers from a health problem and tries to get better for the NCAA Tournament. That reality could obviously affect KU in this game.
Why Kansas Could Cover the Spread
The Jayhawks are the class of college basketball. They have more Quad 1 wins than any other team. They won yet another Big 12 title. They are going to be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. They are going to be one of the favorites to win it all, giving themselves a real chance of being able to go back-to-back and repeat as national champions. Kansas would be the first repeat champion since Florida in 2006 and 2007. Iowa State knows how to beat Baylor, but Kansas is a different challenge altogether.
Final Iowa State-Kansas Prediction & Pick
Stay away from this game. The Jayhawks are better but are without Bill Self. That's a hard-to-predict scenario.
Final Iowa State-Kansas Prediction & Pick: Kansas -4.5
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