Kansas vs Howard Prediction, Odds & Best Bet for March 16 NCAA Tournament Game (Jayhawks Rout Bison)

Kansas vs Howard Game Info

• 2022-23 NCAA Tournament Game
• No. 3 Kansas (27-7) vs. Howard (22-12)
• Date: Thursday, March 16, 2023
• Time: 2:00 p.m. ET
• Venue: Wells Fargo Arena -- Des Moines, Iowa
• Coverage: TBS

Thursday, March 16's 2022-23 NCAA Tournament lineup includes some first-round action in the West Region between the No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks and No. 16 Howard Bison.

Kansas looks to take out its aggression after getting blown out 76-56 by Texas in the Big 12 Championship Game. Meanwhile, Howard pushed its winning streak to five straight games with a 65-64 effort over Norfolk State in the MEAC Tournament finals.

Can Kansas prove that its latest outing was a minor setback? Or will Howard pull off one of the biggest upsets in program history?

Kansas vs Howard Odds & Spread

• All college basketball betting lines, odds and prop bets are from FanDuel Sportsbook.
• Moneyline: KANSAS: (-7000) | HOWARD: (+2000)
• Spread: KANSAS: -21.5 (-110) | HOWARD: +21.5 (-110)
• Total: 145.5 -- Over: (-110) | Under: (-110)

Kansas enters this contest as a massive favorite on the moneyline and spread per FanDuel Sportsbook's odds. This 2 p.m. ET clash also features an over/under of 145.5 points with both sides sitting at -110 odds.

Kansas vs Howard Betting Trends

• Against the spread, Kansas is 16-18-0 this season.
• The Jayhawks have won once ATS (1-3) as a 21.5-point favorite or more this season.
• This year, 15 of Kansas' 34 games have hit the over.
• Howard's record against the spread is 18-13-0.
• The Bison don't have a win ATS (0-1) as a 21.5-point underdog or more this year.
• Out of Howard's 31 games so far this year, 15 have gone over the total.

Kansas Rank	Kansas AVG		Howard AVG	Howard Rank
105th	74.9	Points Scored	75.5	86th
115th	67.9	Points Allowed	71.9	235th
89th	33.2	Rebounds	32.5	129th
188th	8.5	Off. Rebounds	10	55th
222nd	7	3pt Made	8	104th
16th	16.4	Assists	14.9	55th
211th	12.1	Turnovers	15.8	362nd

Kansas vs Howard Prediction & Pick

With all due respect to Howard, there's little reason to doubt Kansas in this matchup. While Howard is used to thriving against the MEAC's lower competition, Kansas sits as the country's No. 3-ranked team. That's not even to mention that this is the Bison's first tournament appearance since 1992, whereas the Jayhawks are the defending champions.

Howard also plays too sloppy to even consider an upset. The Bison average 16.2 turnovers (fifth-most) and 17.5 fouls (T-No. 227) per game. Now, they must face the Jayhawks, who average 14.8 takeaways (No. 34) and 8.8 steals (No. 15) while shooting a decent 71.7% from the charity stripe (No. 186).

While March Madness upsets are fun to watch, Kansas is in little danger this round.

Final Score Prediction: Kansas: 84 | Howard: 65

Kansas vs Howard Best Bet

Due to limited betting options at the time of writing, I recommend backing Howard on the spread. While I expect Kansas to win outright, the defending champions are just 2-4 ATS in their last six games and 3-4 ATS in neutral site matchups this season.

On the other side, Howard has covered the spread in four of its last five outings. Furthermore, the Bison are 6-2 ATS in the last eight games as the betting underdog.

Accordingly, I'm erring on the side of caution by backing Howard as the +21.5 underdog.

Bet: Howard +21.5 (-110)

Devon Platana is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Devon Platana also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username PepeSilvia0. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.