Dickinson Can Lead Kansas To Upset

Kansas vs. Arizona, 9:30 ET

Wrong. Just dead wrong. That's the only way I can describe my plays from yesterday. I was dead wrong about both of them and instead of running my Conference Tournament plays to 4-0, I dropped to 2-2. Brutal. The good thing about these games is that there are more games every day, and that means an opportunity for us to get some of that money back. I've circled Kansas vs. Arizona as one of the games that I think we should play.

Kansas entered the season as the #1 team in the country. They had a target on their backs. Okay, maybe that is a bit too far, but the expectations were high for the Jayhawks, and they've done anything but live up to those expectations. They play in the Big 12, which is a competitive, but not the best, conference. They ran their record to 21-11 this season, and were just 11-9 in Big 12 play. The biggest issues, as you can probably guess by their record, is that they never really found a way to play consistently. The team is led in scoring and rebounding by Hunter Dickinson, but it feels like this might be his 30th season in college basketball and he still isn't an elite player. Don't get me wrong, Dickinson is talented, but perhaps he isn't meant to be the best player on the team. Kansas lost this year to West Virginia, Iowa State, Houston, Baylor, Kansas State, Utah, BYU, Texas Tech, and Houston again. They did play Arizona, but they beat them in the one game the two teams played.

Feb 1, 2025; Tempe, Ariz., U.S.; Arizona Wildcats guard Caleb Love (1) reacts after sinking a 3-point shot during a Big 12 menÕs basketball game against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Desert Financial Arena.

Arizona didn't have a spectacular season, but I would consider them a bit more consistent than the Jayhawks have been. Their record isn't really any different, going 20-11 for the season, but they did finish third in the Big 12 with a 14-6 record. Their six losses in conference play came against Texas Tech, Kansas State, Houston, BYU, Iowa State, and Kansas. Of those losses, only two came at home - one against Houston, which is understandable, and another against BYU which is more of a head scratcher. They played both of those games well, just ended up coming a bit short. They lost to Houston by four, and they lost to BYU by one. While I wouldn't categorize the Wildcats as an elite team, they are talented. This is a team that could make a run to the Elite Eight if their shots are falling. I suppose that can be said about anyone, but the makeup of this team is more about their offensive prowess than the defensive efforts. 

In that game against Kansas that Arizona lost, Dickinson, who I was literally just talking crap about, scored a career-high 33 points. He was no match for really anyone on the Arizona team and went 15-23 from the floor with just four total free throws taken. That's pretty great. Can't imagine Arizona will be playing him the same way. Other than that, the teams were pretty evenly matched. Kansas at home played well so you might take away a bit here, but I'm not sure why they aren't favored in this game. Is it rest? Is it that Caleb Love scored 16 points in 40 minutes against them? I am taking Kansas here with the points, and I do think they can take this one outright. 

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