St. John's Red Storm vs Kansas Jayhawks Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 03/22/26

After a highly entertaining Saturday slate of March Madness action, we should see more compelling matchups in the Round of 32 on Sunday, including a battle between a couple of storied programs and Hall of Fame coaches — as St. John’s gets set to take on Kansas in the East Region. These teams strongly resemble each other in a myriad of areas, so it’s a bit of a surprise that we’re getting more than one possession with Bill Self and the Jayhawks in this one. The market is clearly down a bit on Kansas, but it’s important to consider that this team was still up by 26 points in the second half on Friday before taking its foot off the gas and allowing Cal Baptist to make the game interesting late. Furthermore, the Jayhawks have a top-1o defense and the best player on the court in Darryn Peterson, who should see success in isolation situations against a St. John’s defense that has not faced a guard of his caliber since the early days of the season.

On the other side, it’s undeniable that St. John’s has been playing at an extremely high level in recent weeks. Rick Pitino’s team has rattled off 7 straight victories heading into this matchup, but the competition has not been the strongest for the Red Storm during this run of form, especially compared to what Kansas has faced. This is still a St. John’s offense that ranks 188th in effective field goal percentage and sits well outside the top 200 in 3-point percentage on the season. Kansas’ defense is also excellent in transition, which is imperative against a Red Storm offense that likes to generate quick buckets early in possessions. Ultimately, it’s hard to see either team getting much separation in this one, so I’ll take the points with the underdog.

St. John’s vs Kansas prediction: Kansas +3.5 available at time of publishing. Playable to Kansas +3.