Two of the country’s top-10 teams meet Tuesday with the No. 6 West Virginia Mountaineers (7-1, 1-0 Big XII) visiting the No. 4 Kansas Jayhawks (7-1, 1-0) in a conference matchup at Allen Fieldhouse. Tip-off is set for 9 p.m. ET. Below, we analyze the West Virginia-Kansas college basketball betting odds and lines, with picks and predictions.
Rankings courtesy of USA TODAY Sports’ Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll.
West Virginia at Kansas: Betting odds, spread and lines
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 9:15 a.m. ET.
- Money line: West Virginia +115 (bet $100 to win $115) | Kansas -140 (bet $140 to win $100)
- Against the spread/ATS: West Virginia +1.5 (+100) | Kansas -1.5 (-120)
- Over/Under: 141.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
West Virginia at Kansas: Three things to know
- West Virginia has won four straight games, but covered the spread in only three of those games, after a loss to No. 1 Gonzaga in the Jimmy V Classic in Indianapolis Dec. 2. The Mountaineers squeaked past Big XII foe Iowa State 70-65 at home as 14.5-point favorites in their last game.
- Kansas went into Lubbock as a 3.5-point underdog and upset Texas Tech in a 58-57 nail-biter Dec. 17. Jayhawks’ leading scorer G Ochai Agbaji had a game-high 23 points on 8-for-11 shooting, which included a game-winning layup with 14 seconds left.
- The Jayhawks have dominated this matchup recently as Kansas has beaten West Virginia in four straight meetings. They covered the spread in three of the four.
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West Virginia at Kansas: Odds, betting lines, predictions and picks
Prediction
Kansas 65, West Virginia 60
Money line (ML)
I LEAN KANSAS (-140) because the Jayhawks are the side I am on but betting the money line or the spread could make sense here and I’d suggest waiting closer to tip-off to get a better price for either.
For example, say the market also likes the Jayhawks and Kansas gets up to -150 or pricier, then I’d just lay the points. If it goes the other way, I’d bet the Kansas money line.
Against the spread (ATS)
The stat nuggets I’ll point to in West Virginia-Kansas are the Mountaineers being negative in net effective field-goal percentage (.463 eFG% vs. .469 opponent’s eFG%) and the Jayhawks’ four-rebound edge in net rebounds per game.
I think Kansas’ money line or spread is pretty cheap given the discrepancies in these key areas. But, I only LEAN KANSAS -1.5 (-120) based on the explanation in the money line section.
Over/Under (O/U)
The UNDER 141.5 (-110) for 2 units is my favorite play in West Virginia-Kansas. Both typically play in tight, low-scoring games when facing good teams as Kansas is 19-24-1 O/U and West Virginia 16-22 O/U versus ranked opponents since 2016.
While West Virginia’s defense has been closer to average this season, the Mountaineers’ 3-point defense is elite, which is the most important part of defense nowadays.
West Virginia is 39th in opponent’s 3-point percentage. So the Mountaineers are closing out on opposition 3’s, not just relying on poor shooting. The best part of Kansas’ offense is its 3-point shooting so that’s strength on strength. Also, West Virginia is 320th in 3-point rate and Kansas is 230th, which means these teams don’t chuck 3’s often.
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