Arizona vs Kansas State Prediction 1/7/26 College Basketball Picks Today
Kansas State (9-5) vs. Arizona (14-0)
January 7, 2026 9:00 pm EDT
The Line: Arizona -20.5; Over/Under: 168.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Kansas State Wildcats and the Arizona Wildcats meet Wednesday in college basketball action from McKale Center in Tucson. Here’s an Arizona vs Kansas State prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Arizona vs Kansas State pick.
Kansas State Wildcats Betting Preview
Kansas State opened the season with a nice 5-0 run, but then hit a four-game losing streak. Those defeats came courtesy of Nebraska, Indiana, Bowling Green and Seton Hall. After wins over Mississippi Valley State, Creighton, South Dakota and LA-Monroe, Kansas State took another loss to BYU. Over 14 games so far that gives the Wildcats a 9-5 record.
In the BYU game on Saturday the Wildcats were down by 10 points going into the second half. Kansas State kept the pace from there on a 38-38 run and took the win 83-73. Leading the team in scoring was PJ Haggerty with 24 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Abdi Bashir added 16 points with four rebounds and two assists while David Castillo had 13 points with two rebounds.
Arizona Wildcats Betting Preview
Over on the Arizona side, they’ve opened the season on a great run. Through their first 14 games so far, the Wildcats have dispatched Florida, Utah Tech, Northern Arizona, UCLA, UConn, Denver, Norfolk State, Auburn, Alabama, Abilene Christian, San Diego State, Bethune-Cookman, South Dakota State and Utah in succession for a perfect 14-0 run thus far.
On Saturday in the Utah game the Wildcats entered the second half with a 58-39 edge. Arizona kept the pace from there on 39 more points and took the win in the end 97-78. Leading the way in scoring were Jaden Bradley (four rebounds; five assists) and Tobe Awaka (12 rebounds for a double-double), each with 18 points. Brayden Burries doubled as well on 17 points and 11 rebounds.
Why the Arizona Wildcats will win
- Arizona has won each of its last 23 games as a top-15 AP-ranked team against a non-AP-ranked team at McKale Memorial Center.
- Kansas State has lost each of its last four games against teams with an AP Ranking of 1.
- Arizona has won the first half in each of its last 17 games as a top-10 AP-ranked team against a non-AP-ranked team at McKale Memorial Center.
Why the Kansas State Wildcats will win
- Kansas State has won four of its last five games.
- Kansas State has won the first half in four of its last five games.
Arizona vs Kansas State Prediction
I’ll stick with Arizona here. The Wildcats got past a decent Utes team at Jon M. Huntsman Center in their last outing, shooting a cool 53.6 percent from the field with a 41-29 rebounding edge, 18 assists and just nine turnovers. Arizona added seven blocks and 11 steals off 12 Utah turnovers. The Wildcats are looking great this year; they’ve hit 96 or more points in eight of the last nine games.
As for Kansas State, they had a slow start against a great BYU squad in their last outing and couldn’t make up the gap. The Wildcats shot 41.8 percent from the field in that one with just 3-of-21 (14.3 percent) from outside, 12 turnovers and a 42-32 rebounding deficit. Kansas State had put up 83 or more points in each installment of their previous four-game win streak though, so they can score. I don’t think they’ll keep pace with Arizona on the road, though.
