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The No.7 Kansas Jayhawks and the No.10 Arkansas Razorbacks will meet in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday. The Jayhawks are the 4.5-point betting favorites with the best college basketball betting sites. Here we look ahead to the match and name our NCAAB betting picks in our Kansas vs. Arkansas betting preview.
- What: 2025 NCAA Tournament First Round
- Who: Kansas Jayhawks vs. Arkansas Razorbacks
- Where: Amica Mutual Pavilion, Providence, Rhode Island
- When: Thursday, March 20th, 2025
- Tip-Off: 6.20 pm. ET
Two of the season’s biggest underachievers meet in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Kansas Jayhawks started the season as the No.1 ranked team, the Arkansas Razorbacks No.16.
Both fell way short of expectations. As a result, Kansas will start this year’s competition as No.7 seeds, their lowest rating in 20 years, while the Razorbacks needed a 5-1 finish just to sneak into the end-of-season tournament.
Thursday’s showdown offers legendary coaches Bill Self and John Calipari another chance. Although, sadly for one of them, their season will end in Providence.
The winner will face St. John’s or Omaha in the second round. Now, let’s take a look at the latest betting and see who the bookmakers expect to make it through to the next stage.
Kansas Jayhawks vs. Arkansas Razorbacks Betting
The bookmakers favor a win for Bill Self and his Kansas Jayhawks team.
The best March Madness betting sites make Kansas -200 to win on the money line, with the Arkansas Razorbacks +165 to pull off another heist for head coach John Calipari.
The Razorbacks are -110 to win on the points line with a +4.5-point start. Kansas is -110 to win by five points or more and cover the 4.5-point spread.
The total line is set at 145.5. Both over and under is -110.
You can check out more Kansas Jayhawks vs. Arkansas Razorbacks NCAAB betting lines on our college basketball betting table. Our NCAAB odds are from the best college basketball betting sites.
| Kansas vs. Arkansas |  |  |  |
| Kansas | -200 | -200 | -200 |
| Arkansas | +165 | +165 | +165 |
| Kansas (-4.5) | -110 | -110 | -110 |
| Arkansas (+4.5) | -110 | -110 | -110 |
| Over 145.5 | -110 | -110 | -110 |
| Under 145.5 | -110 | -110 | -110 |
Kansas Jayhawks
The Kansas Jayhawks are 21-12 overall this season and 12-10 in Big 12 conference play. Bill Self’s team finished the regular season sixth in the points table with an 11-9 record.
It’s remarkable to think the team that started the season rated No.1 lost nearly half of its regular-season conference matches.
The Jayhawks’ ten-match record of 5-5 replicates their overall performances in the Big 12. Over the ten matches the Jayhawks have averaged 75.2 points per game and given their opponents 75.3 points per game.
Kansas finished the regular season with an 83-76 win over Arizona. The win snapped a two-match losing skid.
The Jayhawks backed that up with a 98-94 win over UCF in the second round of the Big 12 Tournament. They needed overtime to complete the win after the scores were tied at 83 points each at the end of regulation time.
That was as good as it got for the Jayhawks. The Arizona Wildcats beat them 88-77 in the quarterfinal.
Arkansas Razorbacks
The Arkansas Razorbacks are 20-13 overall and 9-11 in conference play. The Razorbacks finished T-9th in the Southeastern Conference with an 8-10 record.
It’s fair to say that John Calipari’s first full season in Fayetteville hasn’t gone to plan. But this is the start of a journey, and we expect the Razorbacks to come back stronger next term.
Back to the here and now, and Arkansas is 6-4 in its last ten matches. John Calipari’s team has averaged 75.7 points per game and conceded 75.2 points per match.
The Razorbacks struggled in the conference, and things didn’t improve much in the SEC Tournament.
Arkansas defeated South Carolina 72-68 in the first round of the competition, although the win wasn’t without incident.
Arkansas raced into a 47-30 lead at the halfway point. But the Gamecocks stormed back in the second period, eventually losing by only four points.
Ole Miss finished the Razorbacks’s chances of winning the SEC Tournament. The Rebels beat Arizona 83-80 in the next round.
Kansas Jayhawks vs. Arkansas Razorbacks Betting Picks
There’s no way of dressing this up as no matter who wins on Thursday, this has been a poor season for both teams. Even a run deep into the tournament can’t be allowed to gloss over what has been a bitterly disappointing season for both Kansas and Arkansas.
So who is going to salvage something from their wreck of a season?
It’s tough to say who wins the match, but we are leaning towards the Razorbacks. Why? The SEC has been tough this season, and we feel that Arkansas has had a tougher schedule than the Jayhawks.
The match could well be close. So we are going for Arkansas to cover the 4.5-point spread for our betting pick.
We also believe that the total points line is pointing towards a bet on overs, especially if the heavier-scoring Arkansas is the team in the ascendancy.
See below our list of the best offshore sportsbooks for US bettors in 2025 and choose the one that suits you best:
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