March Madness Round 1: Samford vs Kansas Betting Analysis & Score
The Samford vs Kansas Betting Trends Side With The Underdog
Samford vs Kansas Final Score
Samford vs Kansas Preview
The Kansas Jayhawks are usually in good shape with Bill Self at the helm, however, there are many Jayhawks critics this season.
Kansas finished the regular season 22-10. However, they’re a banged-up bunch, and they lost four of their last five games while heading into NCAA Tournament play.
The Jayhawks had to play in the Big 12 Tournament without Hunter Dickinson and Kevin McCullar Jr. Without those two, Kansas was handed a 20-point loss to Cincinnati in their first game of the Big 12 Tournament.
After that loss, analysts are questioning how good Kansas is.
The Jayhawks are in line to take on the Samford Bulldogs, who finished the year 29-5. Samford won three consecutive games in the Southern Conference Tournament and landed a 13-seed in the Midwest Region.
With Kansas still banged up heading into this game, Samford has moved from -8.5 to -7.5 (-115). Meanwhile, the total has risen from 149.5 to 153.5 since opening.
Take a look at our Samford vs Kansas betting preview for Thursday’s late-night Midwest Region game on TBS.
Samford Bulldogs vs Kansas Jayhawks 
Location: Delta Center
Day/Time:
Streaming: TBS
Samford vs Kansas Betting Preview
Samford was a profitable bet against the spread this season. The Bulldogs went 18-14 against the spread and finished 18-0 at home.
Unfortunately, Samford won’t be at home anymore this season. Every game is on a neutral court against NCAAB teams with bigger and better resumes from here on out.
The Bulldogs also hit the Under in two more games than the Over this year.
On the other hand, Kansas played well below its expectations this season. The Jayhawks might’ve gone 22-10 this season, but they only covered in 13 of those games. Kansas also hit the Under in two more games than the Over this year.
Samford and Kansas will be on the NCAA basketball schedule today for the first time ever. These teams have never competed against one another before.
Is Samford This Year’s Cinderella?
After Samford was selected as the No. 13 seed and matched up against Kansas, CBS analyst Seth Davis picked Samford to take down Kansas.
He talked about Kansas’ injuries playing a factor but also discussed how Kansas wasn’t a very deep team. Then he went on to say Samford is an up-and-down team and that they play ten guys. He also acknowledged that with the game being played in Salt Lake, Utah, the altitude would play a factor and favor Samford.
Samford has scored 86 points per game this season. They’ve also been one of the best shooting teams in the nation, hitting 49.25% of shits this year. They can shoot it from downtown with anyone and often attempt many three-pointers.
At one point, Samford had a 17-game winning streak this year.
Hunter Dickinson’s On Schedule
Before the NCAA Tournament, everyone is wondering about the health of Hunter Dickinson and Kevin McCullar.
Head coach Bill Self told the media that Dickinson is doing great. He’s practiced the last two days non-contact and believes he’ll be in the game plan on Thursday.
On the other hand, Self was less optimistic about the team’s leading scorer, Kevin McCullar Jr. McCullar has averaged 18.3 points per game to lead the team, but he’s been out with an injury since March 9.
Still, the game plan was for him to get back on track to start the week and be good for Thursday.
A True Upset Brewing!
The Kansas Jayhawks should be back to full health, with McCullar and Dickinson expected to be back. But we don’t know if Kansas is rushing these guys back or if they’re truly at full strength for the first game of the current March Madness bracket.
Kansas has a top-ten defense that has held teams to 33.8% from deep and 45.3% from inside the arc. The Jayhawks have also limited teams on the glass and continue to keep the fouls down on the defensive end.
They’ll need to play lockdown defense against Samford. Samford’s offense has drained 39.3% from deep and 55.5% from inside the arc. The Bulldogs are also good at getting to the full line, shooting 72.6%.
Because of the up-tempo style of play, Samford turns the ball over at a high rate. However, the team also adds 21.8% of turnovers on the defensive end, which is a top-20 number in college basketball.
Samford’s only main issues on defense are its fouling and lack of defensive rebounding. However, Kansas has only added 25.3% of offensive rebounds and is just average at getting to the foul line.
The Jayhawks have shot only 33.3% from deep, which isn’t even close to Samford’s rate. On top of that, Kansas rarely even takes threes. They’d rather try and score inside the arc, where they’ve shot 54.8% from the field.
That’s really good. However, if Samford gets hot, you’d rather be on the team draining three-point shots than two-point shots.
In addition, Samford has been more aggressive on the offensive glass and could end up with more offensive rebounds in this game.
That shouldn’t happen on paper, but analytically, that’s a realistic thing. Kansas is one of the tallest teams in the nation, while Samford is one of the smallest. But we’ve seen FDU beat Purdue and St. Peter’s beat Kentucky despite being much smaller.
This was ultimately one of Kansas’ worst seasons in the college basketball standings in a long time. They’ve got plenty of talent and one of the best coaches in America on their side. But the analytics still favor Samford to at least cover per our Samford vs Kansas betting preview.
Grab Samford at +7.5 (-110) and cheer on the upset.
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