As top seeds around them continue to fall, the Kansas Jayhawks are looking like a juggernaut. They are one win away from the Final Four and will aim to pick it up in a matchup against the No. 3 seed Oregon Ducks.
Kansas is one of the teams on the short list of national championship contenders and while this game is at a neutral site, it is pretty close to home and the Jayhawks should have the better crowd. The Ducks will be a sizable underdog based on the way March Madness has been going for both teams but would love to pick up another close win.
This war on the floor will go down Saturday, March 25, 2016, at 8:49 p.m. ET at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri. The game will be televised live on TBS.
We'll have NCAA basketball odds available for this and every game on the college basketball Saturday schedule.
College Basketball Odds
Kansas is 30-4 straight up and 13-18-1 against the spread. The Jayhawks have played eight neutral site games on the season and have covered in five of them. Kansas has covered easily in each of its past two games by blowing out Michigan State and Purdue. The Jayhawks are just 10-17-1 against the spread as the favorite on the season but have done better lately.
Oregon is 32-5 straight up and 21-14-1 against the spread. The Ducks are 5-5 against the spread in neutral site games on the year, covering last time out as they were the underdogs despite being a higher seed against Michigan. Oregon has only been the underdog three times this year and has covered in two of them.
Injury Report
Oregon has survived without one of their better players, Chris Boucher, who is out for the tournament with a torn ACL. He got hurt in the Pac-12 tournament, ending a season in which he averaged 11.8 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game.
Boucher was a key cog down low, contesting shots regularly and getting his hands on several. He is a big loss in this one as Kansas has talented forwards who will aim to get easy points in the paint.
Jordan Bell averages 2.1 blocks per game and he will need to play really well to pick up the slack.
Player to Watch
Frank Mason III -- The Kansas star continues to lead the Jayhawks and is fresh off a 26-point game coming into this matchup. In his performance against Purdue, Mason was 9-of-11 from the field, including 4-of-5 from three-point range.
Mason is averaging 20.8 points per game this season and is playing even better in this tournament, putting up 22.7 points per game this over the first few games. He has scored 20 points or more in the last six games and also has three games where he has scored 30-plus this season.
Mason leads a Kansas offense that is averaging 83.5 points per game this season, ranking 15th in the nation. He teams up with freshman Josh Jackson and junior Devonte’ Graham who combine for another 19.9 points per game to make a trio that’s proven difficult to stop this tournament.
Free College Basketball ATS Picks
Oregon has been in several barnburners this postseason, using big plays from Tyler Dorsey and Dillon Brooks to pull out some tough wins. That doesn’t bode well in this one, since the Ducks are playing one of the most talented teams in the country.
Mason and Jackson are on another plane athletically and Oregon is going to have a lot of trouble hanging with them. If the Ducks shoot the ball well from the outside they will have a shot, but Kansas is going to consistently get better looks and should eventually pull away.
Even though this is an Elite Eight matchup between a pair of high seeds, the Jayhawks don’t figure to have too much trouble against the Ducks.
College Basketball Odds: Kansas 88, Oregon 80
BookMaker.eu offers play-by-play betting odds for live sporting events every day! The user-friendly wagering interface on your smartphone provides an easy way to place bets on the go. Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute, so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker.eu!
