Providence vs Kansas Game Preview Betting Analysis
Providence vs Kansas betting provides bettors with the opportunity to wager on the two lowest seeds that will be in action during Friday night’s NCAA Tournament games.
#4 Providence beat #13 South Dakota State by nine points in the opening round before annihilating the #12 Richmond Spiders by 28 in the following one; #1 Kansas, meanwhile, blew out #16 Texas Southern before fighting a close match against the #9 Creighton Blue Jays.
The game between the two will tip off at 7:29 p.m. ET inside the United Center in Chicago, Illinois.
The Providence Friars put the nation on notice early in the season by setting high marks for most Q1 wins, and ultimately finished with a stellar 27-5 record; the concern heading into the Big Dance was that two of these losses came in the team’s last three games, one of which was a 27-point disaster of a loss to Creighton. The team seems to have set these concerns aside in the tournament and has rallied behind their team-oriented play, intensity, and diversity on offense.
Kansas is the most athletically gifted program and put together an equally-impressive 30-6 record in the Big 12. The Jayhawks are riding a seven-game win streak and have wins over six ranked teams, which should have prepared them for a matchup with one of America’s most consistent teams. KU rallies behind senior star Ochai Agbaji, who posted an awesome 19.3-point, 5.2-rebound average while shooting 40% from three.
The difference in Providence vs. Kansas betting is that the Friars are able to get wins in a variety of ways but most succeed because of its spread of playmaking talent; they have defenders, shooters, drivers, rebounders, and most importantly, overall intelligence. They are prone to a cold streak, which almost undid them in the opening round against the nation’s best three-point shooting team, but they compensated for their offensive lull with air-tight defense. Kansas, on the other hand, will need to get Agbaji going if they want to reach the Elite Eight, as their star man is only averaging 13 points in the tournament thus far.
Both schools were extremely popular pre-tournament betting picks, but now, only one can survive. Kansas is a 7.5-point favorite, according to most point spreads.
Providence went 19-13 against the spread and was 8-1 ATS as an underdog this season. Kansas was 18-18 ATS and 18-17 ATS as the favorite.Â
The Friars were 3-3 ATS at neutral sites and covered the spread in both of their tournament games thus far; the Jayhawks were 5-4 ATS at neutral venues and are 1-1 ATS in March Madness odds.
These two programs might have the worst NCAAB odds of any Sweet 16 matchup if they faced off on the gridiron, but there is a real chance for the Friars faithful to make money in Providence vs. Kansas betting. They have performed better against the spread and have the advantage of being the hunter instead of the hunted, which allowed them to perform so well during the early and mid-regular season. The world saw what a +10 spread did for Arkansas against Gonzaga, and a +7.5 line here is also too much.
