Kansas State vs. Portland NCAA Women's Tournament Round 1: How to watch, odds and predictions for March Madness

Kansas State women's basketball will be hosting NCAA Tournament games for the first time since 2017. I have a good feeling about this year and it is because of everything the Wildcats went through during the season.

K-State was one of the hottest teams in women's basketball until disaster hit and they lost their leading scorer Ayoka Lee for a month due to an ankle injury. While it seemed the team would manage well after winning their first three games without Lee, once they lost to Oklahoma, the dam broke.

Kansas State did not seem like the same team for the rest of the regular season, but after time off and playing in the comfort of Bramlage Coliseum, I think the Wildcats could be a very scary team in a tough region.

The Wildcats come into March Madness as the four-seed set to play 13-seed Portland in the first round. However, it is hard not to look ahead and see who is a possible matchup for later games with Iowa, UCLA, and LSU in the same region.

How to watch Kansas State vs. Portland in the NCAA Tournament Round 1

Date: Friday, March 22
Time: 4:30 p.m. ET
Channel: ESPN Network
Streaming: NCAA March Madness Live I fuboTV

Kansas State vs. Portland NCAA Tournament Round 1 odds

Kansas State is a huge favorite in their first-round matchup against Portland in the NCAA Tournament. I figured the Wildcats would be favored heavily, but I did not expect them to be favored this much.

They are also predicting this will be a low-scoring game which I think is fair with how good the Wildcat's defense is. I would still take the over in this matchup because while I think K-State will hold Portland well, the Wildcats will take the opportunity to get their offense rolling.

Kansas State vs. Portland NCAA Tournament Round 1 prediction

This is not a tough one to call, I am going with Kansas State all the way here. I think the Wildcats have had time to regroup after the end of the regular season and Big 12 Tournament and get everything back on track.

I think playing at home gives the Wildcats a huge boost and they have only lost one game at home this season. This will be a good game for Kansas State to start their NCAA Tournament with to get off to a good start.