Oklahoma State vs. Kansas prediction and odds for Saturday, December 31 (Bill Self owns the Big 12)

There was a good amount of turnover on this Kansas roster, but it hasn’t shown. Outside of one slip up against Tennessee back in November, the No. 4 Kansas Jayhawks have been easily one of the best teams in college basketball.

Still, they will be tested by an underrated 8-4 Oklahoma State team today. The Cowboys will play for the first time in 11 days and this will be the first conference matchup for both teams.

The Big 12 might be my favorite basketball conference. The conference season is always fantastic and somehow, it always ends with Kansas on top. I’m happy it’s finally back in full swing, so let’s get right into the odds.

Oklahoma State vs. Kansas odds, spread and total

Oklahoma State vs. Kansas prediction and pick

Kansas should win this game and I fully expect it to do that, no doubt, but Oklahoma State is not going to make it easy for the Jayhawks on the offensive end.

The Cowboys are 15th in defensive efficiency, fifth in opponent field goal percentage, and 11th in opponent 3-point percentage. They only allow 61.5 points a game and they’ve gotten to 8-4 while only shooting 32.5% from deep and scoring just over 70 points a night.

Avery Anderson III is their leading scorer, just averaging 12.2 points. Meanwhile, Kansas has Jalen Wilson going for 21.1 and Gradey Dick averaging 15.4 points per night.

The Jayhawks have offensive firepower, but Bill Self has built this team to defend at a high level. They’re 28th in defensive efficiency and opponents are shooting under 30% from 3 against them.

There will be some shooting rust in this game because these teams haven’t taken the court in well over a week.

Oklahoma State might not be able to score consistently enough to cover this double-digit spread, but they defend at a high enough level to have this game go well under the total.

Follow all Josh Yourish’s bets HERE

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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change