The Daily Sweat: Another top team in college hoops on upset alert as No. 3 Kansas visits Texas Tech

Could another top 5 team in college basketball be on upset alert?

We saw top-ranked Purdue lose at home to Rutgers on Monday night and now No. 3 Kansas is headed on the road to face unranked Texas Tech.

Kansas, currently 12-1 and coming off a 69-67 home win over Oklahoma State to open Big 12 play, is just a 2.5-point favorite at BetMGM. The Red Raiders are 10-3 overall and dropped their Big 12 opener at TCU on New Year’s Eve.

Could this be a bounce back spot for Texas Tech? TTU is just 1-3 vs. power conference opponents this season but is undefeated at home.

It’s a pretty rare occurrence for Texas Tech to be an underdog at home. In fact, it’s happened just once in each of the last three seasons — including last season vs. Kansas. The Red Raiders, then ranked No. 25, were seven-point underdogs vs. the No. 6 Jayhawks. And not only did the Red Raiders cover the spread, they won outright, 75-67.

The previous two times Texas Tech was a road underdog, it lost outright both times. TTU was a four-point dog at home vs. Baylor in January 2021 and lost 68-60. In March 2020, TTU fell 68-62 to Kansas as a three-point dog.

This season, Kansas has faced tougher competition with wins over Duke, NC State, Wisconsin, Seton Hall, Missouri, Indiana and Oklahoma State. Along the way, however, the Jayhawks have only played in one true road game — the 95-67 beatdown of Missouri on Dec. 10.

How will the Jayhawks handle their first road conference game of the year?

Here's the rest of the sports betting slate for Tuesday:

Conference play in full swing in college basketball

Now that we’re in the month of January, the college basketball slate really picks up with conference play in full swing.

In addition to the showdown between Kansas and Texas Tech in Lubbock, there are quite a few other intriguing games on the schedule for Tuesday night.

Pittsburgh, coming off a big win over North Carolina, is a 5.5-point home underdog vs. No. 11 Virginia.

In the SEC, No. 8 Tennessee hosts Mississippi State and is a 9.5-point favorite, No. 7 Alabama is a 12.5-point home favorite over Ole Miss while unranked Kentucky (yes, unranked) is a 9.5-point home favorite over LSU.

In the Big 12, No. 6 Texas is favored by 8.5 at home over Kansas State. In the Big Ten, No. 14 Wisconsin (-12.5) hosts Minnesota and Michigan State (-6.5) hosts Nebraska.

Only 3 games in the NBA

There’s a light NBA schedule on Tuesday with just three games.

The Washington Wizards, winners of five straight, are 8.5-point road underdogs vs. the Milwaukee Bucks, the Boston Celtics are 8.5-point road favorites over the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Utah Jazz are favored by 2.5 points at home vs. the Sacramento Kings.

Busy night in the NHL

After a light Monday schedule that included the Winter Classic in Boston, Tuesday will be a busier day in the NHL with 11 games on tap.

That group of games is highlighted by the Calgary Flames (-125) as a road favorite vs. the Winnipeg Jets, the Carolina Hurricanes (-125) as favorites at MSG vs. the New York Rangers and a Western Conference showdown between the Dallas Stars (-125) and Los Angeles Kings in LA.

What’s the best bet?

I’ll go ahead and take Texas Tech getting the 2.5 points at home vs. Kansas.

The Red Raiders were incredibly sloppy last time out in their loss to TCU, turning it over 23 times and hitting just 9-of-18 free throws. Coming off the loss, I expect a much more focused effort from Texas Tech with the No. 3 team in the country visiting Lubbock.