The Big 12 season is well underway in the NCAA Basketball campaign and this week two of the top teams go head-to-head as the Kansas Jayhawks travel to face the Iowa State Cyclones.
Iowa State come into the game as the number two ranked team in the country with a 14-1 record, while Kansas are 12-3 despite starting the season as many people's favorites to win the national championship.
We'll take a look at the big game and provide you with our best free NCAAB betting picks to try and earn you some extra cash while you enjoy the action on the court.
Learn more about how to bet on NCAAB here.
Kansas Jayhawks v Iowa State Cyclones information
- Wednesday, 15th January 2025
- 19:00 ET start time
- Hilton Coliseum, Ames, Iowa
- Live on ESPN
Kansas Jayhawks season so far
Kansas entered the season as the preseason favorites and number one ranked team, but they've fallen from that spot as they have struggled for offensive efficiency under longtime head coach Bill Self.
Their regular season started with perfection as they went 7-0 in their opening seven fixtures, defeating Howard, North Carolina, Michigan State, Oakland, UNC Wilmington, Duke and Furman.
The first defeat they suffered came against unranked Creighton, and they quickly suffered a second consecutive loss against Missouri.
The Jayhawks bounced back in their next games with dominant wins over NC State and Brown, but they were once again beaten in their next outing as West Virginia took a 62-61 victory in the opening game of the Big 12 season.
Sine then Kansas have claimed three dominant wins, including a huge 99-48 win over UCF. Their last outing against Cincinnati saw them claim a lowly 50-45 win, and they come into this game on a three-game winning streak.
Iowa State Cyclones season so far
The Cyclones have had a remarkable campaign to date and come into this fixture as the number two ranked team - the highest ranking they have ever achieved.
Their season started in perfect fashion as Iowa State won their opening three games against Mississippi Valley State, Kansas City and IU Indy, before falling to their first and only defeat of the season so far when they clashed with Auburn, who were ranked number four at the time.
They won their next seven games on the spin, hitting 99 points twice against Colorado and Morgan State, and 100 points against Jackson State, before the Big 12 season started.
Since then they have won all four of their games, defeating Colorado, Baylor, Utah and Texas Tech, with their most recent win coming in overtime to take them to an 11-game winning streak coming into this game.
Yes Sir Right There.#Cyclones | #C5C | @brandtchula | @MilanMomcilovi5 pic.twitter.com/ymLTdgbTJK
— Iowa State Men’s Basketball (@CycloneMBB) January 14, 2025
NCAAB picks: Iowa State Cyclones to win
Before the season started you would have been hard-pressed to find anyone going against Kansas, never mind backing them to lose for what would be a fourth time in the season to date.
But that is how well the Iowa State Cyclones have been playing, and that is exactly what we are about to do - and with good reason too.
Iowa will not only have home advantage in the game and come into it on an 11-game winning streak, but they are outperforming their opponents in almost every metric so far this season too.
Out of 364 Division I Men's Basketball teams, the Kansas Jayhawks are 104th in offensive rating with 111.9 points scored per 100 possessions and are sixth in defensive rating with 89.9 points allowed per 100 possessions. For comparison, the Iowa State Cyclones are ranked sixth in offensive rating (121.8) and 22nd in defensive rating (93.1).
With such a big gap offensively between the pair over the course of the campaign, and the way they are performing recently, take the home team to get the win on the moneyline as our best pick.
Check out our review for BetOnline sports betting here.
NCAAB picks: Under 147.5 total match points
The Under is 7-3-0 in the last 10 meetings between these two teams, including six of the last seven and four of the last five at Hilton Coliseum in Iowa.
Considering the trend, and the fact that the Jayhawks have seen each of their last 13 games go Under the total points mark, it looks a great bet once again here.
Iowa are averaging 86.2 points scored per game so far this season while Kansas are averaging 77.3 points scored per game. If those numbers were matched in his game then the Under stands no chance. But it's worth remembering those numbers get skewed against lesser opposition, so they're not super helpful.
Defensively the Cyclones have been allowing an average of 65.9 points per game while the Jayhawks have been allowing an average of 62.1 points per game. Again those numbers will be skewed due to opposition, but they make more sense when looking at these two teams and that leads us to believe the Under is the best value for this game.
Check out our review for Bovada sports betting here.
