SOURCE: www.kansan.com

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“Some bettors have taken notice of the Jayhawks perfect-against-the-spread record, but it’s far less than what would be expected,” Gardner said.

“People still see Kansas as a basketball school. It was the same earlier in the year when Kentucky was playing well. Are bettors gaining respect for Kansas? Yes, but there are certainly some doubters out there.”

Point spreads and gambling, a contentious issue in college sports, is an issue the Jayhawks cannot address. Mike Strauss, associate media relations director for the KU Athletics Department, said anyone associated with the team was not permitted to comment on the subject.

Associate Athletics Director Jim Marchiony called the record an “interesting fact” but said the Athletics Department had “nothing to gain by commenting.”

Kansas fans have been lamenting a lack of respect for most of this season, generally referring to the AP and Coaches polls.

The spread, however, has provided sufficient evidence that experts do not believe in the Jayhawks yet, either. Kansas was favored only five points against Oklahoma State despite entering the game undefeated and facing the 5-4 Cowboys.

The Jayhawks were only small favorites against Texas A&M and Colorado earlier this year, and were underdogs against Kansas State.

All four of those teams have five losses or more.

Gardner said Kansas had not reached the point where they would be ‘taxed’ this season, a betting term referring to oddsmakers adding additional points to a popular favorite’s number, forcing the betting public to give more points to back them with a wager.

“The books don’t usually tax teams that are not popular with the general betting public because the general betting public doesn’t wager enough on the non-public teams to counterbalance the professional money that would be bet on their opponents,” Gardner said.

Gardner said he didn’t expect a marked increase in Kansas bets and offered a reason for the continued skepticism: “Kansas still hasn’t proven they can play with the big boys. Even if they go undefeated through the regular season, who have they really beaten?”

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