Big 12 tournament odds for Saturday’s finale show a familiar sight: Top-seeded Kansas is favored to take home yet another conference tourney title — although oddsmakers expect the Jayhawks to get a stiff test from No. 3 seed Texas Tech.
The championship game in Kansas City, Missouri, also serves as a rubber match, as these longtime rivals split their two regular-season meetings — both of which were closely contested.
Multiple oddsmakers provided insights on opening/current lines and action in the Saturday Big Ten tournament betting market. Check back with Props.com throughout the day for line moves and action updates.
Big 12 Tournament Odds and Betting Action
No. 14 Texas Tech vs No. 6 Kansas (6 p.m. ET)
UPDATE 5:15 P.M. ET: Less than an hour before tipoff, Kansas is a 2-point favorite on WynnBet’s Saturday Big 12 tournament odds board. The Jayhawks opened -1.5 (-115) and reached -2.5 late this morning, before backing up a tick. Kansas is drawing 71% of spread tickets and 77% of spread cash. The total opened at 134.5 (Under -115) and is now 134.5 flat, with tickets and money about 3/1 on the Over.
UPDATE 12:25 P.M. ET: Kansas arrived in Kansas City as the No. 1 seed and has proven worthy of that status by romping through the tournament so far.
After blasting ninth-seeded West Virginia 87-63 laying 9.5 points Thursday, the Jayhawks (27-6 SU, 16-16-1 ATS) had little trouble with TCU in Friday’s semifinals, rolling 75-62 as an 8-point favorite. Kansas is 7-2 SU and 6-3 ATS in its past nine games, cashing in the last three in a row.
Worth noting, though, is that the Jayhawks haven’t covered the spread in four straight games all season. To buck that trend and win its 12th Big 12 tourney title since 1997, Kansas will have to take out defensive-minded Texas Tech, which lost in its only previous tournament championship game appearance in 2005.
The third-seeded Red Raiders (25-8 SU, 21-12 ATS) barely got past No. 7 seed Oklahoma in Friday’s semifinals, escaping with a 56-55 win but falling way short as a 7.5-point favorite. Texas Tech’s defense can smother anyone, but its offense can disappear at times. That was quite evident Friday, as the Red Raiders survived Oklahoma despite scoring only 19 points in the second half.
Texas Tech crushed Iowa State 72-41 in the quarterfinals as 8-point favorites, but that’s the team’s only cover in its last five games. On the bright side, the Red Raiders have cashed in five straight games as an underdog (3-2 SU). That includes two-spread covers against Kansas: a 75-67 home win as a 7-point pup Jan. 8 and a 94-91 overtime loss in Lawrence as a 7.5-point ‘dog Jan. 24.
Kansas is 8-3 SU in the last 11 in this rivalry, but the teams have split the cash in their last 14 clashes.
The Under is 4-1 in Kansas’ last four games and 5-2 in Tech’s last seven (3-0 last three). However, both head-to-head matchups this season cleared the total, making the Over 7-3 in the last 10 meetings.
Kansas opened -2 overnight on PointsBet USA’s Big 12 tournament odds board. The Jayhawks have since ticked up to -2.5 with juice (-115). Most of the early money is on the favorite, with splits of 82% tickets and 79% money favoring Kansas.
The total hasn’t budged from the opener of 134.5, although there’s currently slight juice to the Over (-115). The Over is taking a modest majority of the early action at PointsBet, at 55% tickets/61% dollars.