Today the New Mexico State Aggies will tangle with the Kansas Jayhawks at CenturyLink Center Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska in the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament. The game has a start time of 12:15 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on CBS. Current Vegas betting odds have the Jayhawks listed as 10.5 point favorites, while the total is set at 132.5.
Analysis: The New Mexico State had a solid year as they won the WAC regular season title and followed that up by winning their conference tournament as well. They come in having won their last 13 games and have posted a 23-10 record on the year. This will be the Aggies 4th in a row to the Big Dance and 22nd overall. They do have one final four appearance, but no National Titles. The Aggies have gone 7-1 ATS in their last 8 games vs. a team with a winning S.U. record and New Mexico State has been an average offensive team this year, ranking 147th in scoring (68.5 ppg), 47th in shooting (46.6%), 75th in 3 point shooting (36.8%) and 164th in FT shooting (69.4%). The defense for this team has been very good, ranking 18th in points allowed (59.3 ppg), 128th in defensive FG% (42.1%) and 10th in 3 point defense (29.4%).
The Kansas Jayhawks won the Big 12, but after seeing what happened on the first day of the tournament that may a be a bit tainted. Kansas did have a 26-8 year overall, but also lost to Iowa State in the Finals of the Big 12 tournament. The same ISU team that lost to UAB Yesterday. Kansas has been to 43 NCAA Tournament, which include 14 trips to the Final Four and 3 National Titles. Kansas has gone 10-4 ATS in their last 14 games following a S.U. loss, but just 1-5 ATS in their last 6 NCAA Tournament games. The Jayhawks have been a good offensive squad this year, ranking 79th in scoring (71.2 ppg), 140th in shooting (44.0%), 57th in 3 point shooting (37.5%) and 80th in FT shooting (71.9%). The defense for this team has been decent, ranking 131st in points allowed (64.7 ppg), 32nd in defensive FG% (39.5%) and 32nd in 3 point defense (30.9%).
Pick: The Aggies are not an uptempo team and Kansas is not against slowing the game down, especially since this will be an early starting time for both teams. We saw allot of sluggish offense yesterday in the early games and I expect that in this one. Kansas is a good defense team and the Aggies are even better as they come in allowing just 59.3 ppg, while Kansa has allowed just 63 ppg (Reg) in their last 5 games. Kansas is not a full up tempo team and tey only score 66 ppg on the road, while the Aggies have scored just 65.8 ppg away from home. Early start time and a couple of teams that play good defense should keep this game in the mid 120's at most.
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