🏀 Wichita State vs. South Florida Prediction: American Odds & Picks (March 15)

My best Wichita State vs. South Florida prediction for today's 3:15 p.m. ET (ESPN) American Championship at Legacy Arena at BJCC in Birmingham, Ala., centers on the offensive firepower each team possesses. South Florida is a 5.5-point betting favorite.

These two teams split the regular-season series, and though the second game only featured 126 points, I'm expecting this to be a very high-scoring game. And if Wichita State is going to keep pace with South Florida, it will be thanks to leading scorer Kenyon Giles.

It's the second-last conference tournament game before we get to the real action on Selection Sunday, and our college basketball conference tournament guide has you covered for the whole day.

🏀 Wichita State vs. South Florida picks & odds: American (March 15)

See all of our experts' college basketball picks based on the latest college basketball odds; picks rated on a 1-to-5 star confidence scale based on betting value.

Total wagered: 4.5 units | Max profit: 4.19 units

💰 Wichita State vs. South Florida prediction & best bet

Over 150.5 (-110)

South Florida is averaging 88.4 points per game, the eighth-most in the country. They have scored at least 83 in four consecutive games, and they're allowing 76.2 per contest.

Wichita State has scored at least 81 in four consecutive contests, and they're averaging 78.3 per game. Wichita State is also averaging the third-most offensive rebounds per game (13.0), leading to the 21st-most shots attempted per game (62.5). These rebounds will help them keep pace with a South Florida offense that likes to play fast, averaging the fourth-most possessions (77.3) and third-most shots (65.9) per contest. 

Score prediction: South Florida 81 - Wichita State 78

🔥 Best Wichita State vs. South Florida player prop bet

Kenyon Giles Over 21.5 points (-105)

Giles is one of the hottest players in the country right now, scoring at least 22 points in seven of his last eight games. Though Giles is only averaging 19.7 points per contest, he's dropped at least 22 in each game against South Florida.

The key to this Over will be Giles knocking down 3-pointers. He's averaging 3.5 made 3-pointers per game, and he's made nine total against South Florida this season. South Florida is allowing opponents to make 34.3% of their 3-pointers, ranking 200th nationally.

Giles is the Wichita State offense, averaging 17.0 field goal attempts and 9.1 3-point attempts per game this season. He nearly doubles his next closest teammate in each statistical category, as the second-most on Wichita State is 9.06 and 4.62, respectively.

🚀 Wichita State vs. South Florida same-game parlay

If you want to get ambitious with this parlay, then take Wichita State to win outright, and make the odds +528. However, I'm playing it safer than that, as I think Giles and the Shockers will score, but I'm not sure they have enough depth to pull off this upset today. FanDuel is the best sportsbook to place this parlay, as it's offering the best odds for Giles to hit his Over.

💡 How I'm betting Wichita State vs. South Florida

Follow all of our college basketball analysis and expert predictions this season.

The Over is the main wager for this game, as both teams enter this contest red-hot offensively. In the last meeting, when Wichita State scored just 58 points, they shot just 32% from the field and 21% from long range, more than 10 percentage points below their season average in each category. I'll back them to shoot significantly better tonight, which is why the Over is a two-unit play.

Giles seems to score at least 20 every night of late, but since his season average is just 19.7, and he's playing in the second game of a back-to-back, I'm only risking 1.5 units on his Over. And since he is the Wichita State offense, I'll risk just one unit on the Shockers to cover, just in case Giles has an off day.

📊 Live Wichita State vs. South Florida odds: American

South Florida opened as a 3.5-point favorite, but the spread has grown to as large as 6.5 depending on the sportsbook. While I'm not overly confident in Wichita State, getting the spread two or three points off the original line provides excellent value. In fact, I'm backing this play at FanDuel, where the spread is just 5.5, because the sportsbook is offering a much better price for Wichita State to cover. The total hasn't moved, but I'd take it as high as 155.5, so there's no danger of the Over becoming unplayable.

📈 Wichita State vs. South Florida betting trends

📺 How to watch Wichita State vs. South Florida: American

• Date: Sunday, March 15
• Tipoff: 3:15 p.m. ET
• Location: Legacy Arena at BJCC (Birmingham, Ala.)
• TV: ESPN
• Streaming: ESPN+