Kansas Vs. Kansas State 3/3/10

The crowd at Allen Fieldhouse hopes to celebrate a perfect home season.

Kansas State Wildcats (24-4) at Kansas Jayhawks (27-2)

Big 12 College Basketball: Wednesday March 3, 2010 8 PM EST

The Line: Kansas -10

It's rematch of a close game and a battle of top five teams as Kansas State travels to play Kansas.

It's Senior Night in Lawrence as the Kansas Jayhawks are in the unfamiliar position of coming off of a loss. Kansas has wrapped up the Big 12 title and are ranked number two in the national polls. In this one the crowd says goodbye to the Seniors, all who were on the roster when the Jayhawks won the National Title two years ago and most notably, it's goodbye to Sherron Collins who has paced the team this season. Collins has averaged 15.3 points per game but he has a whole cast to help him out including Xavier Henry and Cole Aldrich who if they return next year will be a heck of a core to work with for coach Bill Self. Kansas is eighth in the country in shooting percentage at 48.8 percent, eighth in offensive rebounding, fourth in assists, and fourth in points per game at 82.4. Defensively the Jayhawks make it tough on opponents as they hold teams to 37.6 percent shooting and allow just 63.8 points per game. Kansas is looking at a well deserved and earned number one seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Kansas State hasn't lost since they dropped a two point heart breaker at home to Kansas seven games ago. The Wildcats are ranked fifth in the country and have an 11-3 record in the Big 12. Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente have paced the Cats this season averaging 18.5 and 15.8 points each and as a team KSU averages 80.4 points per game on 45.9 percent shooting and ranking 28th in offensive rebounding. Defensively Kansas State have been about average allowing 68.3 points per game on 41.3 percent shooting. The Wildcats are 6-1 on the road in conference games thus far this season and winning in Lawrence would be a huge boost to their momentum heading into the post season.

Kansas is 5-0-1 against the spread following a straight up loss but they are 0-5 against the spread in their last five Big 12 games and 1-6 against the spread when playing a team with a winning record. Kansas State is 4-1-1 against the spread in their last six road games and 4-1 against the spread following a win. The home team has covered four of the last five in this series.

Though the teams have similar records and aren't far apart in the standings, Kansas in undoubtedly the better team, mostly due to their defense. the problem I have here is this a rivalry games as well and a double digit win doesn't figure in.

Mitch's Pick: Kansas State +10

Check Out All of the Free College Basketball Picks Against The Spread For March 3, 2010

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