Kansas State vs Houston Odds, Pick: Team Total to Take

The Big 12 is the country's most competitive league from top to bottom. On any given night, any of the 14 teams can win without the result being a true shock.

From a betting perspective, the one exception would be a road opponent knocking off Houston. Kansas State and Houston are tied in the Big 12 standings at 4-2, but they're far from equals in the eyes of bookmakers.

Here's Kansas State vs. Houston odds and a pick for Saturday.

Jerome Tang has had a bit of a tumultuous year leading Kansas State. After a fun year with Markquis Nowell and Keyontae Johnson that led to an Elite Eight appearance last season, there's been quite a bit of turnover for the Wildcats.

After a narrow loss at Iowa State, Kansas State will now hope to end the week 1-1 on the road in the Big 12 by beating an even better Houston team.

Road environments are always difficult for teams and can lead to emotional decisions and mistakes. Tang and his team will need to reset quickly and have a fresh mindset if they're going to have any chance to upset arguably the best team in the country.

The Cougars are extremely good thanks to experience and athleticism all over the court.

Houston's experience is true in the coaching department. College hoops has seen many coaching greats retire within the past decade, but Kelvin Sampson has continued to build a powerhouse at Houston. Sampson has used the new age of college basketball to his advantage, despite his old-school approach in coaching style.

The portal granted Houston the opportunity to bring in an elite scorer to couple with the defensive prowess Sampson's teams have trademarked.

And Sampson took full advantage of the opportunity by recruiting LJ Cryer to campus. Cryer made his way across the state of Texas from Baylor, and makes the Cougars a true national title contender.

Cryer and former Temple guard Damian Dunn were brought in to help aid Houston's recent scoring difficulties in postseason play. The formula is working thus far, and playing in the Big 12 should help test all weaknesses before the NCAA tournament starts.

The two losses on Houston's resume are only by a combined margin of three points. Still, a win over Kansas State could vault Houston into a joint lead in the Big 12 standings.

The Cougars are in the conversation as one of the nation's best teams. As a whole, and particularly on the defensive end, Houston couldn't be rated much higher from an analytics perspective.

Analytics often determine betting lines, which is certainly the case in this Kansas State vs. Houston matchup.

Houston is capable of covering a 14.5-point spread at home, but I see almost no value in taking it to cover. Last weekend, Houston was an identical 17-point favorite against UCF.

The Cougars completely suffocated UCF's offense on its way to a decisive win and a thorough drubbing of the Knights. Yet, if you wagered on Houston to cover, you ended up a loser. UCF covered by closing the gap to 15 points in garbage time.

Consequently, I'm inclined to take Kansas State to cover — even without any belief the Wildcats can win. Instead, I'll take Kansas State to score more than its projected total — whenever that line opens.

The scoring options of Tylor Perry, Cam Carter and Arthur Kaluma should give Tang enough firepower to total somewhere in the neighborhood of 60 points.

Pick: Kansas State Team Total Over 56.5

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