The second round of the March Madness tournament has taken shape after an exciting first round. In the Midwest region of the bracket, the No. 1 seed Kansas Jayhawks will take on the No. 9 seed Creighton Bluejays.
Kansas was able to cruise to a 27-point victory over Texas Southern in the first round as the Jayhawks had five players score in double-digits. For Creighton, they escaped with a narrow overtime win over San Diego State to set them up on a date with Kansas in the second round.
While Kansas is considered heavy favorites for their second straight game, can Creighton pull off the upset in the round of 32?
Kansas vs. Creighton Odds
Kansas vs. Creighton CBB gameday odds are provided by Caesars and current as of Friday, March 18 at 3 p.m. ET.
- Moneyline: Creighton (+475) @ Kansas (-650)
- Spread: Creighton +11.5 (-110) @ Kansas -11.5 (-110)
- Over/Under: Over 139 (-110) / Under 139 (-110)
- Implied Score: Kansas 75.5, Creighton 64
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Kansas vs. Creighton Prediction
The Jayhawks are considered among the handful of teams in the tournament that are capable of winning it all. Kansas proved how dominant they could be as a team by defeating Texas Southern by 27 points without breaking much of a sweat in the first round.
In their blowout win over Texas Southern, Jalen Wilson, Dajuan Harris, Christian Braun, Ochai Agbaji, and Remy Martin all contributed 10+ points for Kansas. The Jayhawks have a deep group this season, and the Bluejays will have their hands full on Saturday.
Creighton was able to win on Thursday, but they are inconsistent on the offensive end, which could drastically hurt them against a juggernaut like Kansas. While the Bluejays have a formidable defense, it may not mean much versus a Jayhawks team that can attack teams in various ways.
Unless Creighton can consistently knock down their threes or contain Kansas’ offense, I don’t believe this game will be ultra-competitive on Saturday.
Kansas vs. Creighton Score Pick
Kansas 77, Creighton 58
Despite the defensive efforts from Creighton, it won’t be enough to stay alive in the tournament.
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Kansas vs. Creighton Best Bets
Kansas -11.5 (-110) at Caesars
Wager: 1 Unit
To put it nicely, I don’t think Creighton is that good of a team. They may have defeated San Diego State in the first round, but the matchup wasn’t terrible for them as the Aztecs were also a defensive-oriented team. The Bluejays knew they could defeat San Diego State if they outworked them, and they did just that.
Kansas is a different monster than San Diego State as they are one of the most well-rounded teams in the tournament. Only eight teams in KenPom’s rankings have an adjusted offense and adjusted defense in the top 30, and Kansas is one of them.
The deck is already stacked against Creighton to win on Saturday, and they’ll likely be without their starting center in Ryan Kalkbrenner against Kansas, who suffered a knee injury in the first round.
Given Kansas’ depth and talent gap over Creighton, I expect a lopsided finish in this contest, I expect a lopsided finish in this contest. The Jayhawks have covered the spread in each of their last five games, while the Bluejays have gone 2-7 in their last nine matchups with a team in the Big 12.
Under 139 Total Points (-110) at Caesars
Wager: 1 Unit
We know that Kansas can score points in bunches as they average 78.7 points per game (tied for 15th most in the country). Meanwhile, Creighton isn’t known for their ability to score this season, posting only 69.1 points per game (tied for 200th in the country).
I envision Kansas winning with ease, which could result in them taking their foot off of the gas near the end of the game. Scoring can be difficult for Creighton as they aren’t particularly efficient from deep, and they are expected to be without their 7-foot-1 center in Kalkbrenner that can have success in the paint.
I’d be slightly surprised if Creighton can reach 60 points in this contest against a Kansas defense that shouldn’t have many issues caging the Bluejays. While Kansas can put up a ton of points themselves, I don’t think Creighton scores enough to hit the over.
The trends are on our side as both of these programs have hit the under in five of their last seven games. Also, the total has gone under in five of the previous seven times that Kansas was considered the favorite.
