Texas at Kansas: How to watch, odds, score predictions from ESPN, KenPom

No. 6 Kansas (24-6, 13-4 Big 12) hosts the No. 21 Texas Longhorns  (21-9, 10-7, Big 12) on Saturday at 4 p.m. ET. Here’s how to watch, Vegas odds, ESPN BPI predictions and KenPom game predictions as well for both teams ahead of huge Saturday’s SEC clash. With a victory, Kansas will clench a share of the Big 12 regular season championship with a Baylor win on Saturday, but will be outright champions if the Bears lose to Iowa State.

How to watch Texas at Kansas

Time: 4 p.m. ET/3 p.m. CT

Channel: ESPN

Location: Lawrence, KS

Odds

Money line: Kansas -270, Texas +215.

Spread: Kansas -6, -110. Texas +6, -109.

Total: Over/Under 137, -114.

Check out the rest of Vegas’ odds ahead of Saturday’s college game day slate.

ESPN BPI predictions 

Matchup quality: 86.7%

Win probability: Kansas, 74%

Predicted point differential: 6.5

‘The College Basketball Power Index (BPI) is a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of performance going forward. BPI represents how many points above or below average a team is. Strength of Record (SOR) is a measure of team accomplishment based on how difficult a team’s W-L record is to achieve. 

Game predictions account for opponent strength, pace of play, site, travel distance, day’s rest and altitude, and are used to simulate the season 10,000 times to produce season projections. Numbers update daily,’ per ESPN.

For the rest of ESPN’s BPI predictions, click here.

KenPom predictions

Score prediction: Kansas 73, Texas 68. 

Win probability: Kansas, 69%. 

Check out the rest of KenPom’s predictions for Kentucky at Florida, and the rest of college basketball here.

Texas vs. Kansas preview

Kansas has a chance to win the Big 12 regular season championship and lock up the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament, while Texas is locked into the No. 4 spot in the standings, win or lose. While they’re out of the running for a conference title, Texas still has a chance to play spoiler as they look to upset Kansas on the road and rob them of a potential Big 12 regular-season championship berth and potential No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Three of Texas’ last five games (including Saturday’s game against Kansas) have been against those top three. With chances to jump ahead in the standings, the Longhorns couldn’t finish under pressure and fell to both Texas Tech and Baylor to keep them out of contention for a regular-season conference title. While they did beat TCU and West Virginia in consecutive games during the same stretch, those Quadrant 1 wins were mandatory for Texas’ image come Selection Sunday, and Texas has a chance to sneak one of those wins into their resume ahead of postseason play.