Cincinnati Opens March Madness With Kansas State

Bearcats in 7th Straight NCAA Tournament

The Kansas State Wildcats and the Cincinnati Bearcats kick off the March Madness campaigns on Friday when they meet at Golden 1 Center. Cincinnati is appearing in its seventh consecutive NCAA Tournament. This is the the third time in four years the Bearcats have been shipped to the west coast and the team is not happy about it.

Oddsmakers opened the Bearcats as -3-point favorites versus the Wildcats, while the game's total opened at 130.5. This Bearcats are now favored by 4-points in the March Madness battle. The total has dropped to 129.5.

Last time out for Cincinnati, they were a 71-56 loser as they battled the SMU Mustangs in the AAC Tournament. They failed to cover as a +1-point underdog. Jacob Evans leads Cincinnati in scoring at 13.7 points per game. Kyle Washington averages 13.1 points and 6.9 rebounds.

Kansas State was a 95-88 winner in their most recent outing in the "First Four" play-in game against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. They covered the -1-point spread as favorites. Kansas State won four of its last five games. This included a win over Baylor and a tough one-point loss to West Virginia. Wesley Iwundu leads the team in scoring and rebounding, averaging 12.9 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. Guards Barry Brown and Kamau Stokes,  along with forward D.J. Johnson all average just over 11 points per game.

March Madness Betting Odds And Trends

Kansas State:
Team record: 21-13 SU,17-11-2 ATS
Kansas State is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games
Kansas State is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games

Cincinnati:
Team record: 29-5 SU,17-14-1 ATS
Cincinnati is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games
Cincinnati is 22-3 SU in its last 25 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Cincinnati's last 6 games

Get all of your College Basketball Odds at Bovada Online Sportsbook.