Place Your Bets: Missouri at Kansas (Mar. 1)

No. 11 Missouri (24-4, 11-2) at No. 15 Kansas (23-5, 12-1)

Sun. Mar. 1 at 2:00 p.m. EST

Spread: Kansas -4.5

Backcourt Advantage: Kansas

This is a showdown between two of the nation's hottest teams, who also happen to be archrivals. Furthermore, it's for first place in the Big 12.

Sherron Collins (18.3 PPG) is the fearless leader of a Jayhawks team that is surpassing all expectations that this was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the defending national champions.

Collins and the Jayhawks will be looking for revenge against rival Missouri, to whom they lost 62-60 on Feb. 9. Kansas blew a 30-16 halftime lead in the second half as the Tigers finally settled down and turned up the pressure on defense. Missouri held the Jayhawks to one field goal in the final eight minutes of the game to seal the comeback.

Missouri juniors Zaire Taylor (5.3 PPG) and J.T. Tiller (7.8 PPG) will have a harder time pressuring the Jayhawks and forcing turnovers in Allen Fieldhouse than they did at home last month. In that game, Missouri forced an amazing 27 Kansas turnovers, a season high, which proved to be the difference in a low-scoring game between the two usually dynamic offenses.

Frontcourt Advantage: Even

Senior forwards DeMarre Carroll (17.1 PPG) and Leo Lyons (14.3 PPG) will look to out-hustle and outscore the Jayhawks inside. They are the leading scorers for Missouri, who ranks fourth in the nation in scoring with 82.6 points per game.

Carroll led the Tigers with 22 points and seven rebounds in their win against Kansas in their first meeting, while Lyons added 13 points.

Sophomore Cole Aldrich (15.0 PPG, 10.7 RPG, 2.5 BPG) needs to stay out of foul trouble in this game. He was timid on offense because of foul trouble and was held to just eight points on 3-for-8 shooting.

However, Aldrich was dominant on the defensive end, grabbing 13 defensive rebounds and blocking five shots. He finished the game with 15 rebounds overall, as Kansas outrebounded Missouri 48-28.

Aldrich, who has 16 double-doubles this season, is coming off a 15 point, 20 rebound game against Oklahoma, who was playing without Blake Griffin. He will need to be dominant inside for the Jayhawks to win this game and take some pressure off of Sherron Collins and the backcourt.

Momentum: Even

Missouri comes in winners of seven straight, including its win over Kansas on Feb. 9, while the Jayhawks have won 12 of its 13 conference games, their only loss coming to the Tigers.

Look for the Jayhawks and their fans to return the favor and overwhelm the Tigers in  Allen Fieldhouse, where Kansas has defeated Missouri nine consecutive games.

Like in their first meeting, this game will come down to the final minute, so I will take the points in this one, although I like Kansas to win the game.

Shaun's Pick: Missouri +4.5