March Madness Odds: Northern Iowa vs Kansas Jayhawks Betting

The Kansas Jayhawks will have another chance to prove they are worthy of their number one seeding when they battle the ninth seed Northern Iowa Panthers on Saturday afternoon at 5:40pm EST in a game that can be seen on CBS from the Ford Center. March madness odds have Kansas a 11.5-point college basketball betting favorite against Northern Iowa at online sportsbooks with the total sitting at 126.5. Northern Iowa almost was out of the big dance in the first round against UNLV but played a stellar second half to pull out the 69-66 victory to win their fifth straight game.

The Panthers covered the 1-point spread in March madness odds behind 17-points from Ali Farokhmanesh including the game winning three pointer with 4.9 second left in the game to send Northern Iowa into the second round. The college basketball betting total went OVER the 140.5 posted at online sportsbooks. "That's what you dream for is to make a shot like that," Farokhmanesh said after the game. "It just felt good to actually do it." The Panthers should have plenty of confidence heading into today's match-up going 8-2 when playing on Saturday, 8-2 after a win and 5-0 straight up in their last 5 games.

The Jayhawks cruised to victory in their first round match-up against Lehigh netting 35 points in the first half and 55 in the second to secure a 90-74 win. Kansas didn't cover the 25-point spread as college basketball betting favorites and the total went OVER the 146.5 set at online sportsbooks. Marcus Morris netted 26-points and 10 rebounds while Sherron Collins added 18-points and six assists in the win. "It's a good thing we got tested," Collins said after the game. "We needed that. It'll get us ready for games like this because there'll be more games we get tested in this tournament. It's a crazy tournament." The Jayhawks have gone 9-1 when playing on Saturday, 9-1 after a win and 5-0 straight up in their last 5 games overall.