West Virginia Mountaineers vs. Kansas Jayhawks Betting Odds, Basketball Pick

The West Virginia Mountaineers (20-5, 8-4 Big 12) will go for their third straight road win and a sweep of the Kansas Jayhawks (22-3, 10-2) when they visit Allen Fieldhouse on Monday as solid road underdogs.

The Mountaineers have also won five of six overall, including an 85-69 rout of the Jayhawks as three-point home favorites on January 24, following a two-game skid.

Point spread: The Jayhawks opened as 2.5-point favorites; the total is at 158.5, according to sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark. (Line updates and matchup report)

College basketball pick, via OddsShark computer: 78.2-64.0 Mountaineers (College basketball picks on every game)

Why the Mountaineers can cover the spread

This is a bigger game for West Virginia, as the team looks to seriously challenge Kansas for the Big 12 regular-season title. The Jayhawks have not played particularly well lately, despite winning four of five since that road loss to the Mountaineers, going 0-3-1 against the spread in their last four.

West Virginia was also aggressive in the last meeting, going to the free-throw line eight more times than Kansas and, more importantly, scoring 13 more points there.

Why the Jayhawks can cover the spread

The Jayhawks cannot afford to lose at home to the Mountaineers in this spot if they are going to earn at least a share of the Big 12 regular-season title for the 13th straight year. Sure, they sit atop the conference standings right now, but the Baylor Bears are only one game back with West Virginia just two behind.

Like every year, Kansas wants a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, and an impressive win here would certainly help its case. The Jayhawks and Bears were both projected as top seeds in the first Bracket Preview released Saturday, but one of them figures to drop over the next month.

Smart pick

The previous four games for Kansas have all been decided by four points or less, including a 92-89 home loss to the Iowa State Cyclones as a 10-point favorite on February 4. West Virginia is a better team than Iowa State and should be able to stay within striking distance of the Jayhawks throughout the game.

While the Mountaineers may not pull off the upset victory, they will cover for the sixth time in eight meetings.

Betting trends

Kansas is 1-5-1 ATS in its last seven games.

The total has gone over in nine of West Virginia's last 12 games.

The total has gone over in four of West Virginia's last 5 games on the road.

All college basketball lines and betting trends courtesy of Bleacher Report’s official odds partner, OddsShark. All quotes gathered firsthand unless otherwise noted. Check out Twitter for injury and line-movement updates and the OddsShark YouTube page for picks and analysis, or download the free odds tracker app.