Kansas (1) vs. Duke (2) Odds: March Madness Elite 8 Prediction
-
Andrew Rogers
Fortunately for the Midwest Region, sanity prevailed – and the top two teams are left standing as the top-seeded Kansas Jayhawks tangle with the No. 2 Duke Blue Devils on Sunday in Omaha. And even this matchup features a twist, with oddsmakers favouring the lower-seeded Blue Devils.
NCAA Tournament Odds and Betting Analysis
While Duke had its hands full in Friday’s 69-65 victory over the ACC-rival Syracuse Orange, the Blue Devils have still had a better tournament showing than the Jayhawks, who squeaked into the Elite Eight with four-point wins over the Seton Hall Pirates and Clemson Tigers. Both teams come in with strong cover trends – the Blue Devils are 8-3 ATS in their last 11 games vs. the Big 12, while Kansas has covered five of its previous seven vs. ACC opponents.
Speaking of strong trends, the over looks like a terrific option in this one given how both teams have played. Duke has gone above the total in 12 of its previous 14 non-conference contests and is a red-hot 10-2 O/U in its last 12 neutral-site games. Kansas has four overs and a push in its last six games overall and is 6-1 O/U in its previous seven encounters with teams above .600. That all said, the teams have gone under in four of their last five meetings.
Duke Blue Devils
While the Blue Devils also rode their starters heavily in their victory over the Orange, they had the luxury of providing a bit more of a breather in the two blowouts prior to that win. But it won’t matter how Duke doles out the minutes if it doesn’t do a better job from long range, where it shot just 5-for-26 against Syracuse and was fortunate to escape thanks to dominance from the foul line. Grayson Allen has hit just 10 of his 28 attempts from 3-point territory in the tournament.
Kansas Jayhawks
The Jayhawks would have liked to give their starters a little more rest in Friday’s 80-76 triumph over Clemson – but surrendering 53 second-half points to the Tigers prevented that from being a reality. Four of the five starters played 35 or more minutes, continuing a trend in which the starters have been responsible for 140 of the team’s 163 points over the past two games. Look for the Jayhawks to try and limit bench minutes once again despite the quick turnaround.
