An exciting 8-9 matchup in the 2018 NCAA Tournament between Creighton and Kansas State tips off Friday at 6:50 p.m. ET. The eighth-seeded Bluejays were upended by Providence in the Big East tournament quarterfinals; the No. 9 Wildcats were knocked off by Kansas in the Big 12 semis.
Creighton opened as a 1.5-point favorite and is now laying one. The Over-Under, or total number of points Vegas believes will be scored, opened at 145.5, but has dipped to 144.5.
Before picking either side, you need to see what the SportsLine Projection Model has to say. This model, which simulates every game 10,000 times, enters March Madness on an 11-1 streak on its top-rated college basketball picks.
Now, the computer has examined every matchup, every player and every trend for Creighton vs. Kansas State. We can tell you it's leaning toward the Under, but it has locked in a strong, must-see against-the-spread pick that hits in over 60 percent of simulations.
The model knows Creighton fields a small team, so the Wildcats' best chance to cover the spread -- or win outright -- is fiercely crashing the boards. The Bluejays lost their best rebounder, Martin Krampelj, to a torn ACL in January. If Kansas State can avoid turnovers and push the ball into the lane, it should get multiple second-chance scoring opportunities.
But the Bluejays can cover the spread by doing what they do best: shoot efficiently. Creighton is nailing 49.7 percent of its field goal attempts and nearly 38 percent of its three-point tries. Senior guard Marcus Foster is the engine that drives the offense. He's averaging 24 points in his last four outings, but Kansas State boasts a top-six scoring defense.
So what side of Creighton vs. Kansas State do you need to be all over? Visit SportsLine now to see the strong against-the-spread pick from the computer model that is backing one side of the spread nearly two-thirds of the time.
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