It’s so far so good for the Wildcats in the Jerome Tang era as head coach. KSU heads into the Kansas State at TCU betting matchup atop the Big 12 at 4-0 and riding a 9-game win streak overall. The red hot Wildcats are still a +4.5 underdog on Saturday afternoon in Ft. Worth (2:00 PM ET, ESPN2).
TCU is a somewhat surprising -4.5 home favorite considering they’ve lost back-to-back games, although those were two close games against quality opponents in #14 Iowa State (69-67) and #10 Texas (79-75). The Horned Frogs beat then #19 Baylor 88-87 prior to that so this is quite the 4-game gauntlet this team has been on – but that’s what you get in the Big 12.
Kansas State is For Real
Kansas State, Kansas, and Iowa State all sit atop the Big 12 at 4-0 so this conference is going to be a dogfight this year. One big thing KSU has to do on Saturday is avoid looking ahead to the in-state rivalry game with the Jayhawks on Tuesday, and instead take care of business against TCU first.
The reason Kansas State looks like a legit team this year is because they’ve been able to adapt and get wins. They survived in high scoring road games at Texas (116-103) and Baylor (97-95 OT) before coming back home for a 65-57 win over Oklahoma State in a more defensive minded struggle.
K-State could get caught looking ahead to the Kansas game this week, and +4.5 is definitely an interesting line, but if this is a trap situation there are worse duos to back than the Wildcats’ Keyonte Johnson and Markquis Nowell. Johnson looks like he is back to his player-of-the-year caliber before his heart issues at Florida, scoring 28 vs. Texas and 24 vs. Baylor. Nowell was even better with a 34 ppg average in those two games.
Time for TCU To Get Over the Hump
The Horned Frogs have dropped two in a row, but Wednesday’s 79-75 defeat at Texas came as +6 point underdogs. TCU was also 1.3 seconds away from handing Iowa State their first conference loss of the season until Gabe Kalscheur hit a three to give the Cyclones a 69-67 win.
The defeats to ISU and the Longhorns were close and those are two good teams, but contest like the Kansas State at TCU betting matchup are ones the Horned Frogs have to win to stay in the Big 12 race. Only 45% of the betting public likes TCU to cover the -4.5 on Saturday.
Kansas State has a solid scoring combo in Johnson and Nowell, but TCU’s Mike Miles, Jr. can launch as well putting up 19.5 ppg. Emmanuel Miller added 21 in the loss to Texas so the Horned Frogs can put up their own solid numbers on offense – and have the better defense.
Free Kansas State at TCU Betting Pick
KSU has the hot hand right now, and has picked up two big conference road wins already this season. That being said the Wildcats know they could get to 10 straight wins – but also can’t help but look ahead to hosting Kansas this week. TCU is hungry after a couple close losses, and they should get the win and cover here.
Free Pick: TCU -4.5
