2011 NCAA Tournament: Point Spreads for Big 12 Games on Thursday

Well the NCAA Tournament is finally here which means a few different things. One is many people are either using their vacation time from work on Thursday and Friday or maybe their sick time in some cases. The other thing it means is that we are getting down to the final games of this season to analyze the betting lines and make predictions on the games.

Hopefully my predictions on the point spread outcomes do better than my annual picks in the bracket pools I enter into.

Let's take a look at the point spreads of the two Big 12 teams in action on Thursday.

MY CURRENT RECORD AGAINST SPREAD THIS SEASON: 33-16

Missouri Tigers vs Cincinnati Bearcats - This line varies depending on where you look but currently being shown at most places as a Pick'Em.

MY PREDICTION: Tough game to call here as I do not think Cincinnati is a great team but I also have not been impressed with Missouri late in the season. The Tigers have played well in the tournament under Mike Anderson but watching Misssouri lately you get the feeling that something just isn't right with this current team. I am going to go against a previous prediction I made of Missouri winning their first game, if I had to put money down on this one I would ride the Bearcats.

Kansas State vs. Utah State Aggies - Another game where line varies somewhat but majority show K-State as a 2 point favorite.

MY PREDICTION: I have flip flopped on this game numerous times just in my mind thinking about. On one hand you have a Big 12 team in Kansas State who was playing well down the stretch and is led by All Big 12 performer Jacob Pullen going up against a WAC team who is a #12 seed. Then you hear about how Utah State is way better than a #12 seed and many people are picking the upset. If I was forced to put my own hard earned money down I would go with the team from the power conference with the preseason All-American guard so I am going to pick K-State for the win and the cover.