The Kansas Jayhawks look to become the first repeat college basketball national champions since the Florida Gators did it in 2006 and 2007. To do so, they'll need to first get past the No. 16 seed Howard Bison. Read on for our Howard vs. Kansas prediction based on the top NCAAB odds.
Howard (22-12, 11-3) rolled into the MEAC tournament title game with three consecutive wins by 19-plus points, then edged Norfolk State 65-64 in the championship game to earn its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1992.
Kansas (27-7, 13-5) has not lost a game to anyone other than Texas since Feb. 5 but dropped two to the Longhorns in that span, including the Big 12 Tournament championship. The Jayhawks played the entire conference tournament without head coach Bill Self. He was hospitalized with an illness but is expected to be back on the sidelines for the NCAA Tournament.
Here is our best Howard vs. Kansas prediction (odds via FanDuel Sportsbook; pick confidence based on a 1-to-5-star scale).
Howard vs. Kansas odds
Howard vs. Kansas prediction
Kansas was held to 60 or fewer points for the fifth time this season in the Big 12 Championship game. And while Howard's 212th-ranked defense, per KenPom's adjusted defensive efficiency metric, is not as imposing as Texas', the Bison come in with much momentum from a dominant MEAC tournament run where its defense played its best basketball of the season.
Howard held its three conference tournament opponents to an average of 58 points, despite playing a style of defense that spends the sixth-fewest time on defense per possession in the country. The Bison's success was largely due to clamping down on the perimeter (13-of-63, 20.6% 3-point shooting allowed) in the conference tournament while forcing 15-plus turnovers in two of the three games. If Howard can pressure Kansas' guards and force turnovers, it will offset the fact that the Bison average 16.3 turnovers per game, the third-most in Division I.
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Kansas could not find an offensive threat other than forward Jalen Wilson (his 20.1 points per game led the Big 12) with guard Kevin McCullar injured against Texas. If McCullar is held out because of back spasms once again, it limits the Jayhawks' offensive ceiling considerably.
Many will dismiss Howard because of its multiple n o-shows in the non-conference. The Bison lost to Kentucky by 32 and Yale by 46 before being more competitive against VCU, losing by 10. However, comparing those games to this one against Kansas is not apples to apples considering those were true road games, and in the Yale loss specifically, the Bison were without three of their top four leading scorers. Howard won 14 of its last 16 games when it was returning to full strength, and we expect the Bison to cover for the sixth time in their seventh neutral site game this year.
Check out our best March Madness odds and Wooden Award odds.
Howard vs. Kansas best odds
| DraftKings | FanDuel | BetMGM | Caesars | PointsBet |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| +20.5 | +21.5 | +20.5 | +21 | +21 |
| -20.5 -110+20.5 -110 | -21.5 -110+21.5 -110 | -20.5 -115+20.5 -105 | -21 -110+21 -110 | -21 -110+21 -110 |
Check out our breakdown of the best March Madness odds and all of our March Madness picks and betting trends.
At one point on Monday, all sports betting sites were in unison with the 21.5-point spread. However, only FanDuel remained at this number, with all others shading towards the underdogs. The line would likely move more if Self were unavailable to coach this game unexpectedly, but his and McCullar's unknown statuses are likely big reasons why this line has gone towards the underdogs at most places.
Howard vs. Kansas odds analysis
Kansas has held pretty steady as a 22-point favorite throughout the week with only temporary movement a half point in either direction of that line. As of Thursday morning, 63% of bettors are backing the Jayhawks.
The Over/Under has seen much more movement across most of our best sportsbooks. The common opening line of 146 dropped as low as 145 before settling back to 145.5 by Thursday morning.
Howard vs. Kansas game info
- Date: Thursday, March 16, 2 p.m. ET
- TV: TBS
- Location: Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines, IA
Howard-Kansas pick made 3/14/2023 at 6:23 a.m. ET.
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