NCAA Tournament Odds: North Texas vs. Kansas State

KSU's Jacob Pullen is one of the nation's top guards. (AP Images)

Only four times in NCAA Tournament history has a No. 15 seed beaten a No. 2 seed and not since 2001, so that’s the challenge facing big underdog North Texas on Thursday night against Kansas State in a first-round West Region game in Oklahoma City. KSU has opened at -16 on Bodog’s college basketball odds.

North Texas (24-8, 17-6-2 ATS) is the Sun Belt champion and makes just its third NCAA Tournament appearance, and all three times it has been a No. 15 seed (losing the previous two by 16.5 ppg). The Mean Green enter on a roll, having won 11 games in a row. Their key guy is forward George Odufuwa, who ranks 13th in the country in rebounding 10.7 per game to go along with 11.5 points per game (on 61.3 percent shooting) to be one of 21 Division I players to average a double-double. North Texas also leads college basketball in free throws made per game with 20. The Mean Green played two other Big 12 teams this year, losing by 14 at Oklahoma State and 10 at Texas A&M. North Texas is 17-0 this year when holding opponents under 45 percent shooting.

A No. 2 is Kansas State’s highest tournament seeding ever, surpassing a previous high of No. 4 that the Wildcats landed in 1988 when they reached the Elite Eight. But then KSU (18-9-1 ATS this year) deserved a No. 2 after winning a school-record 26 games this year. Three of its seven losses came to rival Kansas, and the two schools could potentially meet again in the Final Four. KSU has one of   the nation’s best backcourts in Jacob Pullen (18.9 ppg) and Denis Clemente (16.2 ppg). Thanks in large part to those two, who combine for more than 40 percent of the team’s points, Kansas State has topped 80 or more points in 19 of 33 games this season, including five with 90-plus. But those two Wildcats guards will be tested by UNT’s Josh White and Tristan Thompson, who both averaged better than 14 points a game. KSU is 9-4 all-time in first-round games.

Both teams can score, so look for a lot of points in this one. The winner will advance to play either No. 7 seed BYU or No. 10 Florida on Saturday.

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