Kansas State Wildcats at Kansas Jayhawks
Thursday, 10/14/10, 7:30 PM EDT
Opening Point Spread: Kansas State -4
Current Betting Line: Kansas State -3
Opening Total: 50.5
Current Total: 50
Current Moneyline: Kansas State -150/Kansas +130
Kansas State heads out on the road after suffering an embarrassing 48-13 home loss to No. 6 Nebraska last week in front of a nationally-televised audience. “We’re going to have to play a lot better and a lot smarter and coach a lot better,” said head coach Bill Snyder. “I need to coach a lot better, that I know.” The Wildcats and Jayhawks will do battle for the 108th time this seek and for the second time on a Thursday night. The 107 prior meetings ranks the Sunflower Showdown as the 13th-most played rivalry in the country. Kansas State took last year’s matchup and the Wildcats hold a 10-4 edge since the Big 12 was formed and a 14-4 advantage under Snyder. The team’s last win in Lawrence was back in 2002, a 64-0 Wildcat victory. KSU is 2-3 ATS this year and 12-14 ATS in its last 26 games overall. At the time of publish Kansas State is a 3 point road fav on the college football betting lines.
The Wildcats enter with a 4-1 overall record and 1-1 mark in Big 12 Conference play, paced by a running game that is averaging nearly 210 yards a contest on the ground. All-America candidate Daniel Thomas currently ranks fifth in the nation in total rushing yards by a running back with 691 yards, while his 138.2 yards per game average ranks seventh nationally overall. On the other side of the ball, Kansas State had its own problem of stopping the running game, allowing Cornhuskers freshman quarterback Taylor Martinez to set a school record with 241 yards rushing. In total, Nebraska gashed the Wildcats for 451 rushing yards, which was the first time they’ve allowed 400-plus yards on the ground since 1989.
Kansas suffered a 55-7 blowout loss on the road to Baylor in its Big 12 Conference opener and had a week off to put that game in the rear-view mirror. In that loss, the Jayhawks fell victim to the most lopsided victory the Bears have ever handed to a conference opponent in Big 12 play. “I think everything is going well,” first-year head coach Turner Gill said of his players approach following its latest defeat. “Guys come in, they work hard, they’re focused.” The Jayhawks are 11-8 over the last 20 seasons in weeks following a bye and this will be the first under Gill. The team has reason to regain confidence in Thursday’s contest, winning three of the last four matchups and have won three-straight in the series at home.
The Jayhawks may have an 11-8 record after bye weeks over the last 20 seasons, but the team has won five straight games after a week’s rest. Kansas is also playing its second non-Saturday game of the season, which could be an advantage, as the squad has won four straight Thursday games. One category that must improve in order to prove victorious in conference play is the team’s ability to force turnovers. KU has not come up with an opponent turnover in the last two games and has forced just three on the season. Offensively, the team turned it over four times against the Bears, matching its total for the first four games combined. Kansas is 18-8 ATS in its last 26 games following a bye week.
Bettors will be interested in knowing that the Wildcats are 1-9 ATS in their last 10 games as a road favorite, while the Jayhawks are on a 1-8 ATS run in conference. We have released 2 predictions on the college football card for Thursday. We have crushed the books with our football picks this season and you can get tonights winners on our college football predictions page of the site.
