Big 12 Quarterfinals - Texas Tech vs Kansas

Texas Tech Red Raiders  +17½

Kansas Jayhawks   -17½ 

The Texas Tech Red Raiders knocked off the Colorado Buffalos and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament where the Kansas Jayhawks are waiting for them.  In their previous meeting back on January 16, the Jayhawks won 89-63 but they couldn’t cover the 21½-point spread.  The game tips off Thursday at 12:30 pm EST and can be seen on ESPN. 

The college basketball betting line for this one is a little more than the difference of the last game; the Jayhawks are favored by 17½ points. 

The Jayhawks rank number one in the Nation once again after Syracuse dropped their final game to Louisville. The two weeks out of first gave Kansas a chance to regroup and prepare them for the Big 12 tournament.  They will cruise to victory Thursday but coving the spread will be a much harder proposition. 

This season, despite spending most of the season ranked number one and holding a record of 29-2 overall, the Jayhawks haven’t been money in the bank for college basketball bettors this season. They are only 12-15-1 against the spread. Against the Big 12, they are only 3-8 in their past 11 games ATS.  The day of the week shouldn’t be too much of a consideration when placing your bets but this trend is too much to ignore, the Jayhawks are only 3-14 ATS in their past 17 Thursday games. 

The Texas Tech Red Raiders were nationally ranked before the in-conference games started and then they dropped out of the rankings and dropped out of the March Madness tournament. Texas Tech upset the Buffaloes but an upset of Kansas is a real long shot. The trends aren’t that much more positive in favor of a Red Raiders ATS win, they are 1-4 ATS against teams with a greater than .600 win percentage in their past five. The only positive trend for either team going into Thursday’s matchup is that the Red Raiders are 3-1-1 in their past 5 neutral site games. 

The Jayhawks will win this game with ease but the 17½-point spread is just too high to ignore, early sharp money has been on the Red Raiders, just because of the value of the line. It’s higher than it should be but the books will need to balance the public money coming in blindly on the Jayhawks.  Take the value of the 17½ points. 

Big Twelve Betting Pick: Texas Tech Red Raiders +17½