Monday night will see one of the biggest games of the collegiate basketball season take place, as the in-form Kansas Jayhawks, who have reeled off a seven-game winning streak, are set to take on the undefeated No. 1 Arizona Wildcats.
History may repeat itself
This isn’t the first time an undefeated team has walked inside the confines of Allen Fieldhouse in conference play this season. As a matter of fact, the game that kick-started the winning run was against the No. 2 Iowa State Cyclones, nearly a month ago, where Kansas stomped Iowa State in a blowout 84-63 win.
Except heading into that matchup, the Jayhawks were unranked for the second time already this season after a 1-2 start in conference play, leading the team to resort to a players-only meeting days before the Cyclones were rolled in.
Kansas reaches newest peak in AP Top 25
Yet, while against the Cyclones, the Jayhawks could easily have employed an underdog mentality Monday night, it will be a bit harder to sell, as minutes ago, the Jayhawks were labeled as the No. 9 team in the country, their highest mark of the season.
According to ESPN Analytics, the Wildcats currently have a 58.3% chance of beating the Jayhawks. However, it was just a week ago when the Jayhawks had to travel to a noisy Lubbock, Texas, where the ice-cold Darryn Peterson lifted the Jayhawks over the No. 15 Texas Tech Red Raiders in a 64-61 win, thanks to two clutch three pointers in a game where Kansas was also tabbed as an underdog.
Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. CT with streaming available on ESPN.
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