The Kansas Jayhawks are the No. 1 overall seed in the 2016 NCAA Tournament, and did they ever earn it. The Jayhawks, who are the top seed in the South Region, are undefeated since late January and swept both the Big 12 regular season and tournament titles. However, the No. 16 Austin Peay Governors are also in the middle of their own win streak, and will be looking to give the Jayhawks all they can handle.
Learn more about the top seed’s round of 64 assignment with our complete preview below. In the meantime, check out more great tournament action with our previews of No. 7 Dayton vs. No. 10 Syracuse and No. 3 Utah vs. No. 14 Fresno State from the Midwest Region.
March Madness News & Predictions
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- 2016 March Madness Longshots and Best Long Shots Picks and Predictions
- 2016 March Madness Preview
- 2016 NCAA March Madness Expert Picks
March Madness No. 1 Kansas vs. No. 16 Austin Peay Preview
Where: Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines
When: Thursday, March 17, 4:00 PM ET
Line: Kansas Jayhawks (-26) vs. Austin Peay Governors (+26); total 152.0 – view all NCAA Basketball lines
TV Broadcast: TNT
Betting on the Kansas Jayhawks
How dominant have the Kansas Jayhawks been? Well, they’ve won 14 games in a row (11-3 ATS) and apart from Baylor, who played them close twice, only three other teams have come within single-digits during that span. Kansas is currently one of three favorites priced at +500 to win the tournament.
Senior forward Perry Ellis (16.7 PPG on 52 percent shooting) is an ever-reliable scoring machine. Meanwhile, Wayne Selden and Devonte’ Graham are the X-factors that are capable of exploding at any time. Graham is coming off a terrific 27-point performance in the Big 12 title game against West Virginia, while Selden had 21.
Kansas is a massive 23.5-point favorite against Austin Peay, but even that might not be too high. The Jayhawks have nine such wins of 25 or more points this season, and they have the talent necessary to run it up on a Governors team that finished way down in 278th in scoring defense this season.
Bench players like Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk and Brannen Greene are dangerous three-point shooters who have every incentive to impress head coach Bill Self if they get to play in garbage time. There’s a good chance that they just continue to pour it on against the Governors, who were one of the very worst three-point defenses in the entire country.
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Betting on the Austin Peay Governors
The Austin Peay Governors were just 12-17 heading into the penultimate game of the regular season. Two of those losses included ugly blowouts to tournament teams Vandy (80-41) and Indiana (102-76). But they suddenly went on a six-game win streak, which included all four Ohio Valley conference tournament games as they improbably claimed the title as a No. 8 seed.
The Governors just got hot on offense. They averaged a respectable 76 points per game on the season, but that jumped up to 84.8 points during their win streak.
Chris Horton and Josh Robinson combined for 35.6 points per game during the season to carry much of the offensive load for the Governors, but they have been receiving steady contributions from their teammates in recent games.
Freshman Jared Savage, in particular, has been on fire from beyond the arc. He went a sizzling 19-of-34 from three in the tournament, and went 8-of-14 in the final against UT Martin.
With Horton relentlessly crashing the boards, the Governors drew the seventh-most fouls in the nation and were fifth in free throw attempts. It’s not too farfetched to imagine a scenario where Horton’s hard work gets one of Kansas’s key players in foul trouble, while Savage gets hot from deep to keep the Govs relatively close against the Jayhawks.
Writer’s Prediction
Kansas (-26) cruises to the round of 32 with an 87-61 win.
