Kansas State Wildcats Betting Odds – Seeds of Discontent

As sports betting cases go, Kansas State rates as a tease. The Wildcats might have looked really good on paper earlier in the season, but the more one examines this ballclub, the more one sees a Final Four pretender. Make no mistake: KSU basketball is in a much better place under the guidance of coach Frank Martin, who has revitalized the program in Manhattan, Kan., often known in college sports circles as “The Little Apple.” Yet, the Wildcats do not appear ready to win four games in two weekends and crash the party known as the Final Four.

• Kansas State Wildcats Betting Odds to win NCAA Championship
• Kansas State’s best non-conference win this season came against Xavier on Dec. 8, 2009.
• K-State lost both of its games against rival Kansas.
• Wildcats lost three Big 12 Conference games at home during the regular season.

Kansas State Wildcats Betting Odds – They Will Go Far In The NCAA Tournament Because…

If NCAA basketball betting wisdom got turned on its head, Kansas State would then find itself in Indianapolis on the first weekend of April. It’s improbable that the Wildcats will be one of the four teams left standing. If KSU does pull through, however, it will not be hard to identify the source of the Cats’ upward climb in the college basketball pecking order.

KSU has two guards, Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente, who can shoot the lights out on any given night. Pullen averages 19 points a game and Clemente chips in with 16. The dynamic duo does possess the skill level to take over ballgames and carry a team through March Madness. KSU is also powered by two active forwards, Jamar Samuels and Curtis Kelly, who both average 11.4 points per game. Yet, if the Cats are to make it to Lucas Oil Stadium on Saturday, April 3, it’s the Pullen-Clemente combo that will do the heavy lifting. Frank Martin and the rest of his coaching staff will need their bold bombers to stick many 3-point daggers late in games

Kansas State Wildcats Betting Odds –They Exit Out Of The Tournament Early Because…

If the sportsbook odds hold up, KSU won’t escape the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Samuels and Kelly are solid players, but not elite players, and an opponent with an imposing low-post presence will be able to do damage against the Wildcats, who are active but somewhat undersized.

The matchup KSU thrives on is a game in which the opponent’s guards are not strong with the ball. Weak ballhandlers get eaten up by Kansas State’s extended and aggressive pressure defense. However, the reason why the NCAA Tournament is so difficult is that teams are thrown into a pool where ideal matchups don’t always materialize. On the first weekend, KSU might have two highly winnable contests, but as the scene shifts to the regionals and the Sweet 16, the chances are greater that the Wildcats will run into a thorny foe with excellent guard play and a commitment to protecting the basketball. Moreover, since KSU lost any remaining shot at a No. 1 seed in its recent loss to Iowa State, the quality of the draw for this team will surely be tougher than it might have expected one week ago.

Kansas State Wildcats Betting Odds – Best Player

It’s definitely Jacob Pullen. The junior from Maywood, Ill., hits 38 percent of his threes, a very solid conversion rate. Pullen also hits 82 percent of his foul shots, which is a godsend come tournament time. Pullen has flinched a little in a number of KSU’s conference losses this season, but if he has a hot hand, defenses will have to devote all their attention to stopping him, and this will open up the floor for Clemente and the rest of the Wildcats. Pullen is by far the main reason why Kansas State enters the Big 12 Tournament with a sterling scoring average of 79.9 points per game.

Kansas State Wildcats Betting Odds – X-Factor

If Pullen is the meal ticket, Samuels is the X-factor for Frank Martin’s club. The 6-foot-7 sophomore from Washington, D.C., is a holy terror on the glass when KSU thrives, but when Samuels isn’t a presence on the backboard, the Wildcats normally suffer. Pullen and Clemente must bring their A-game for this team to succeed; the same is true with Samuels as well.

Kansas State Wildcats Betting Odds – March Madness Prediction

Maybe a perfect draw or an upset will open up the bracket for this team, but in these days before Selection Sunday, the odds are that KSU will eventually face an opponent that can exploit the Wildcats and neutralize the Pullen-Clemente partnership. A Sweet 16 would actually be a good showing for a team that’s been overseeded in many bracket projections

Pick: Lose In Sweet Sixteen

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