2 Best College Basketball Bets and Player Props for UCF vs. Kansas

The college basketball season is rolling along, giving us plentiful betting options with so many teams in action each day.

Fortunately, we have abundant tools available that can aid our chances of finding good betting value. Bart Torvik and KenPom are excellent sources that give insights into team-level efficiency, and Sports Reference provides a wide range of useful team stats, as well.

Tonight, UCF takes on Kansas in the Big 12 tournament. The 6th-seeded Jayhawks are 10.5-point favorites against the 14th-seeded Knights, while the total is set at 153.5 points. Full UCF-Kansas odds can be found below.

Let's check out FanDuel Sportsbook's college basketball odds to find the best bets and player props for UCF-Kansas.

Please note lines are subject to change throughout the day after this article is published.

UCF vs. Kansas Betting Picks

Kansas Over 81.5 Points (-120)

The first two UCF-Kansas matchups could not have gone any differently. KU dominated the first head-to-head, 99-48, before UCF made a game of things in Lawrence, with KU winning 91-87.

The one constant?

That'd be the Jayhawks offense.

Kansas had a field day in both matchups versus the Big 12's worst scoring defense, and I don't see that changing tonight. That makes the over on their 81.5-point team total worth considering.

Kansas finished just sixth in the Big 12 in scoring offense, averaging 73.5 points per game. But make no mistake -- Bill Self's squad has plenty of firepower. They've consistently laid the hammer down against suspect defenses, averaging 85.9 points across eight games versus teams outside the top 100 in adjusted defense.

UCF finished the regular season 117th in adjusted defense, and they forked over 85.5 points per game against top-100 offenses.

How UCF surrendered those points benefits Kansas, too. In Big 12 play, 48.4% of the Knights' points allowed came in the paint. That was the second-highest mark in the conference and well-above the league average (43%).

Kansas scored the second-highest percentage of their points in the paint during the conference season, and they bullied those that couldn't defend the interior. They cleared 81.5 points in three of games against the Big 12's three-worst paint defenses.

But UCF's defense isn't the only variable to consider -- the Knights are also one of the fastest teams in the country. They're 12th nationally in adjusted tempo and led the Big 12 in average pace.

Again, that's good news for KU. The Jayhawks cleared 90 points in all four matchups against top-50 tempo teams and went over 81.5 in six of nine against teams in the top 100. With KenPom, Bart Torvik, and Haslametrics each projecting Kansas for north of 81.5 points, the over on their team total is my best bet for UCF-Kansas.

Kansas to Win and Hunter Dickinson (KU) to Score 20+ Points (+100)

This is the kind of matchup where I want exposure to Hunter Dickinson. The Kansas big man shredded UCF for 27 and 24 points in their two regular season meetings, immediately drawing attention to his 21.5-point prop. But with KU favored by double-digits, I'm happy to grab Kansas to win and Hunter Dickinson to score 20+ at +100 odds.

Even in a neutral matchup, 20 points wouldn't be an especially high bar for Dickinson to clear. He averaged 18.4 points in league play and ended the season on a high note by cracking 30 points in two of his final four games.

Now, he hit that 20-point threshold in only 7 of 20 Big 12 appearances, but that had more to do with a lack of involvement than any efficiency struggles. If we look at just the games Dickinson attempted 15 or more shots, the big man scored 20 points at a 78% clip.

That's an important threshold given how much volume UCF has funneled toward the interior. UCF permitted the most field goal attempts (per 40 minutes) against Big 12 bigs, simultaneously allowing the most points (per 40) to the position.

This is just too good of a matchup to ignore for a player of Dickinson's caliber, especially with his strong play of late.

We still need Kansas to win to complete this wager, but that shouldn't be too big of an issue with KU a 10.5-point favorite. In addition to sweeping the season series with UCF, the Jayhawks took care of business against the lesser teams on their schedule. KU finished 15-3 against teams outside the top 50 on KenPom, with two of those losses coming in true road environments.

In a neutral site game -- where Kansas went 2-0 against Michigan State and Duke during non-con -- I'm expecting the Jayhawks to roll. Bart Torvik projects Kansas to win 80% of the time in, so there's logic in adding it to this Dickinson points angle to get to plus odds.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.