Iowa State In Better Class Than Kansas

Iowa State vs. Kansas, 9:00 ET

As you are probably well aware, there are two big days for college basketball each week – Tuesday, and Saturday. If you don’t know that, it is probably because you’re new around these parts, so, welcome! Tuesday is a day that we usually see most of the best teams playing. There are expectations, of course. College teams play every day, but the vast majority of games, and usually the better ones on paper are Tuesday and Saturday. With today being Tuesday, it seems like a great opportunity for us to play one of those games as Iowa State takes on Kansas.

Iowa State seemingly has one of the better programs every season. I don’t think they naturally come to mind when you think of college basketball, but they should as they are consistently fielding a team that performs well. This season is no different as they come into this game with a 16-0 record, and they are 3-0 in conference play. Sometimes teams have a fairly soft schedule to start a year and it makes them look better than they actually are. Is that the case with the Cyclones? I won’t say this is the toughest schedule I’ve ever seen. They had to face St. John’s and beat them, barely, but it looks like St. John’s isn’t quite as good as I thought they were to start the year. Their best win is certainly their victory over Purdue. They embarrassed the Boilermakers, beating them 81-58 at Purdue. Road wins against tough opponents like that are few and far between. Their past three games, all against conference opponents, have also been impressive as they’ve taken down West Virginia, Baylor, and Oklahoma State. Although none of those teams are ranked, I’d expect most to make a reasonable case for the field of 64. 

After getting knocked out of the NCAA Tournament by Gonzaga, Bill Self revealed that he has had his mind on next season for a month. (Getty Images)

Kansas is a basketball powerhouse that hasn’t quite found their footing in a while. Bill Self won the National Championship with them in 2022, but hasn’t made it all that far in the tournament the past three years. His team has been rather inconsistent in those seasons as well. This year looks to be another of the same. They are 11-5 for the year, so not terrible, but there is a lot left to be desired for Jayhawk fans. They have lost three of four games against ranked opponents, only beating Tennessee. And, in those three losses, only one was by single-digits. Most recently, they’ve shown that they struggle on the road. They beat North Carolina State, but it was by one and in overtime. The last two losses were against UCF and West Virginia. They only lost to UCF by six, but that’s not really a team they should be losing to. Luckily for them, they are at home in this one.

Iowa State is certainly the better team. They have the more consistent team, and probably the better overall players. I’d like to think that we don’t have anything to worry about with the spread, but there always is something to worry about. In this case, the Jayhawks don’t want to lose two in a row, and three of their past four. They also are at home, so they should play better. The thing is, the Cyclones are just a better team than the Jayhawks. As long as Iowa State chooses to keep its foot down on Kansas’ neck, they will win this with ease. Give me the Cyclones -3.5.

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