The Kent State Golden Flashes take on the Akron Zips. Check out our college basketball odds series for our Kent State Akron prediction and pick. Find how to watch Kent State Akron.
The Mid-American Conference race is down to three teams. The Akron Zips are one of them. Akron is tied with Toledo at the top of the MAC with an 11-2 league record through 13 games. Central Michigan is one game back of the leaders at 10-3. There are only a few more precious and high-pressure weekends left in the regular season. The battle for a conference championship has reached its final stages, and the stakes are high before the MAC Tournament.
Akron had led the MAC outright, but a loss earlier this week at Toledo dropped the Zips into a tie for first place. It is vital that Akron — on its home floor — bounces back from that setback and restores order heading into the final few days of February. It is almost March. There is no time to waste and no opportunities to squander. The margin for error is small — for Akron and all the other mid-major teams trying to win championships and give themselves the best possible path to a high seed in the conference tournament, which thereby increases the odds of making the NCAA Tournament in a few weeks.
Here are the Kent State-Akron College Basketball odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
College Basketball Odds: Kent State-Akron Odds
Kent State Golden Flashes: +7.5 (-110)
Akron Zips: -7.5 (-110)
Over: 138.5 (-106)
Under: 138.5 (-114)
How To Watch Kent State vs Akron
Time: 6:00 pm ET / 3:00 pm PT
TV: CBS Sports Network
Stream: fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why Kent State Could Cover the Spread
The Akron Zips aren’t just coming off a loss; they’re coming off a particularly painful loss to rival Toledo. Akron lost its grip on the outright lead in the MAC. That could serve as a real blow to this team’s confidence heading down the stretch. Keep in mind that Kent State, an underachieving team this season, is approaching March. Any underperforming team in a mid-major conference knows that as long as it can play well in March, it has a shot at making the NCAA Tournament. We have seen plenty of instances over the years — we see it at least once each season — of a team underachieving in November, December, and January but then turning on the jets late in the season and finally playing the kind of basketball everyone expected before the season began. Kent State, sensing the urgency of its situation and knowing that it has to begin to play well before it’s too late to do anything about it, could come up with an inspired performance here which not only covers the spread but wins outright. Akron could be teetering, and Kent State could seize this chance.
Why Akron Could Cover the Spread
The Zips did lose to Toledo, but Toledo is a good team which challenged Akron and forced the Zips to play at a high level. Kent State isn’t in Toledo’s class. The Golden Flashes have actually had a hugely disappointing season, playing nearly .500 ball despite having a team which was expected to finish in the upper tier of the MAC. Kent State is instead a middle-of-the-pack team which has been utterly unable to play well for more than one week at a time. Akron is by far the superior and more consistent team, and it is playing at home as well.
Final Kent State-Akron Prediction & Pick
Akron is better by a considerable margin. Take Akron.
Final Kent State-Akron Prediction & Pick: Akron -7.5
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