The Kansas Jayhawks and Duke Blue Devils kick off the NCAA basketball season at Madison Square Garden for the Champions Classic. The Jayhawks have gotten the best of the Blue Devils in recent history and are 3-0 SU and ATS in the last three games in this matchup.
- Kansas Jayhawks vs Duke Blue Devils (Matchup Report)
- Date/Time: November 5, 7 p.m. ET
- TV Coverage: ESPN
- Sportsbook Odds: Duke -2.5 | O/U 153 (Line History)
Sportsbook Odds Analysis
Some heavy movement has come in for the Jayhawks after Kansas opened as a 2-point underdog. Kansas is now sitting as a 2.5-point favorite vs the Blue Devils with 52 percent of the bets on the Jayhawks. The total has remained steady at 153.5 with 65 percent of the bets on the OVER.
Kansas News & Notes
The Kansas Jayhawks went 26-10 SU and 16-19-1 ATS last season. Losing seven-foot center Udoka Azubuike to an injury after just nine games was a big loss for the program, but he’s back this season for his senior year and should create a matchup problem for most teams around the nation down low.
The Jayhawks also return guard Devon Dotson, who scored 12.3 points per game last season and should see an uptick in production on offense with last year’s two leading scorers no longer on the team.
Duke News & Notes
With Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett and Cam Reddish on last year’s squad, the Blue Devils were heavy favorites to win the NCAA championship as the tournament’s top seed.
The Blue Devils went 32-6 on the season and won the ACC championship, but a 15-8 ATS run to start the season eventually gave way to a 3-12 ATS slump to end it, including the team’s disappointing loss to the Michigan State Spartans as 2.5-point favorites in the Elite Eight.
Duke won’t have the kind of star power it did last season with those three elite prospects off to the NBA, but Tre Jones returns and is joined by a new talented group of freshmen that include forward Matthew Hurt and center Vernon Carey. Duke is 15-4 SU in its last 19 games against Big 12 opponents.
Betting Pick: Kansas -2.5
This one feels like a coin flip, but with Devon Dotson grading out a bit higher than Tre Jones and the matchup issues that a healthy Udoka Azubuike can create, Kansas is the play.
- Duke is 15-4 SU in its last 19 games against Big 12 opponents.
- Duke is 1-8 ATS in its last 9 games.
- The UNDER has hit in 4 of the last 6 games in this matchup.
