Texas basketball vs. Kansas: Prediction and odds college basketball

What could be the biggest road test remaining on the regular season schedule lies ahead on Feb. 6 for interim head coach Rodney Terry and No. 5 Texas basketball. The newly-minted top-five ranked Longhorns will try to extend its winning streak to three games if it can top the No. 9 ranked Kansas Jayhawks and head coach Bill Self on the road at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence early this week.

Texas just nabbed its first ranked win of the season away from the friendly confines of the Moody Center in Austin over the weekend. Terry and the Longhorns topped the No. 7 Kansas State Wildcats on the road at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan on Feb. 4 by the final score of 69-66.

The win over Kansas State puts Texas at a mark of 19-4 (8-2 Big 12) on the season. Texas remains atop the Big 12 standings outright following the win over Kansas State last weekend.

Meanwhile, Kansas is largely in a slump in the last half-dozen games or so. Kansas has lost four of its last six games, dating back to a slim one-point overtime loss on Jan. 17 at the hands of Kansas State. And the last game for the Jayhawks resulted in a convincing 68-53 loss on the road on Feb. 4 at the hands of the No. 13 Iowa State Cyclones at Hilton Coliseum in Ames.

The loss to Iowa State moved Kansas’ record on the season to 18-5 (6-4 Big 12).

Here’s a look at the betting odds and game prediction as Texas gets set to square off against Kansas on the road at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence on Feb. 6, with the tip-off time set for 8 p.m. CT. This game will also be televised live on ESPN.

Texas basketball vs. Kansas: Betting odds for Feb. 6

Texas is a 4.5-point underdog against Kansas and the over/under is set at 146.5 (per FanDuel).

The moneyline favors Kansas (-192) over Texas (+158).

According to Kenpom, Texas has a 40 percent chance of beating Kansas. And Kenpom projects Texas to fall short of Kansas 76-73 in this game.

Texas vs. Kansas prediction

Each of the last four meetings between Texas and Kansas either resulted in wins for the Longhorns or went into overtime. Texas won three of the last four meetings against the Jayhawks. And the one that Texas lost was a game that went to overtime at Allen Fieldhouse against Kansas last season.

Everything about this game lines up to something that will amount to a really close finish between these two teams on Feb. 6.

I think Kansas has the advantage in terms of length and proficiency in the starting unit between the two and the four. Each of Kansas’ four starters from the two through the five is at least 6-foot-6. Yet, none of them are taller than 6-foot-8.

Meanwhile, Texas will more than likely roll with three players that are under 6-foot-5 on the floor for the majority of the game (including some combination of Marcus Carr, Tyrese Hunter, Sir’Jabari Rice, and Arterio Morris).

Kansas is also the better three-point shooting team, as it ranks in the top four in the Big 12 this season hitting its looks from deep at a clip of nearly 36 percent. Meanwhile, Texas ranks near the bottom of the Big 12, shooting around 33 percent from deep this season.

Last but not least, Kansas will have the obvious advantage thanks to the home-court environment present at Allen Fieldhouse. Phog Allen Fieldhouse will never be an easy play to defeat the Jayhawks.

Meanwhile, I think Texas should have a decided edge in terms of depth and points in the paint. Texas has improved of late in terms of scoring efficiency within four feet of the basket and second-chance points. That is largely thanks to the improved efficiency and production from the frontcourt duo of Timmy Allen and Christian Bishop.

Texas also leads the Big 12 in bench scoring per game this season, and in conference play. On the other hand, Kansas ranks at the bottom of the Big 12 in terms of bench scoring.

Add all of this up, and I foresee a matchup that is likely going to be just as close as Texas’ battle with Kansas State turned out to be in Manhattan last weekend.

I think Kenpom’s final score prediction of Kansas winning by a three-point margin is closer to what will happen than the nearly five-point margin that FanDuel predicts the Jayhawks to win by. If Texas comes to play in this one, I don’t think this squad is losing by more than one possession, if not winning the game outright.

Final score prediction: Kansas-82, Texas-81