Kansas vs Missouri Basketball Prediction & Picks: Will Rock Chalk crush the paper Tigers?

Through the first month of the college basketball season, the new-look Missouri Tigers have been lighting up the scoreboard and racking up wins. But are they for real, or have they just been making the most of light competition? We’ll find out today as they host rival Kansas.

The 9-0 Tigers have been flourishing under new coach Dennis Gates, and they enter this matchup leading the nation in scoring.

But while six SEC teams are ranked, Mizzou received only two votes in this week’s AP Poll, as their schedule is one of the weakest in the country.

But we’ll see what these Tigers are made of over the next few weeks, with today’s matchup with the Jayhawks and a game against Illinois ahead in almost two weeks, before they open SEC play against Kentucky and Arkansas.

Will the reigning national champions bring their longtime rivals down to earth, or will we see an upset in Columbia? Read on for our Kansas vs Missouri prediction, along with our picks for the matchup.

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Kansas Jayhawks vs Missouri Tigers Matchup Information and Betting Odds

Matchup Information

• Matchup: #6 Kansas Jayhawks (8-1) vs Missouri Tigers (9-0)
• Venue & Location: Mizzou Arena (Columbia, Missouri)
• Date: Saturday, December 10, 2022
• Game Time: 5:15 pm ET (4:15 pm local time)
• How to Watch Kansas vs Missouri: ESPN

Kansas vs Missouri Odds

Game odds are via BetOnline as of Saturday, December 10, 2022, at 3:30 pm ET. This article may also feature odds from our other recommended legal sports betting sites.

Spread

• Kansas -3.5 (-110)
• Missouri +3.5 (-110)

Over/Under

• Over 152.5 (-114)
• Under 152.5 (-106)

Moneyline

• Kansas -162
• Missouri +132

Jayhawks Likely to Expose Untested Tigers

You certainly have to give credit where credit is due, and it must be said that this Missouri team is entertaining.

That hasn’t been the case much since the Tigers moved from the Big 12 to the SEC. In fact, in their first ten seasons as a member of the SEC, Mizzou averaged 70+ points a game only four times.

How well the 11th season will pan out remains to be seen, but their significant roster turnover has paid off thus far.

Mizzou has nine players who are averaging at least 13.3 minutes per game and 4.8 points per game, and the only one who was on last year’s team is Kobe Brown (14.3 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 2.6 APG, 1.2 SPG), the team’s second-leading scorer.

But the reality is that their schedule could not be any weaker to this point. Seven of their opponents are ranked outside the top 200 at KenPom, while their best win is an 88-84 overtime win over Wichita State, who is 4-4 and just barely inside the top 90 at KenPom.

And while the Tigers are scoring a lot of points and have five 20+ point wins, they have given up 80+ points five times.

You can get away with that against the likes of Wichita State, Southern Indiana, Southeast Missouri State, but they are unlikely to be able to play that game with Kansas and win.

Kansas vs Missouri Prediction and Picks

Kansas vs Missouri Prediction: Kansas to win

Kansas vs Missouri Picks: Kansas/Missouri first half over & Kansas team total over

Kansas has not played since a 91-65 win over Seton Hall on December 1, so there may be some rust to shake off. And the Jayhawks will be going up against a hungry, high-scoring team in a hostile environment.

So, I don’t discount the possibility that Missouri could make things very, very interesting, at least for a while.

But it’s hard to see anything other than a win for the Jayhawks. The Tigers appear to be a markedly improved team, or at least a much better offensive team.

But they are going up against their toughest opponent to date, and they are unlikely to pile up the points as freely as they have been so far, and I don’t see them being up to the task defensively.

The Jayhawks are still a work in progress, but even as a work in progress, there’s still some distance between where they are and where the Tigers are, and you should bet accordingly.

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