The 8^th-ranked Creighton Jays will face the Loyola Chicago Ramblers in Kansas City, Missouri at the T-Mobile Center in the 1^st round of the Hall of Fame Classic on Wednesday afternoon with the game scheduled to start at 4:00 PM ET and will air on the CBS Sports Network.

After finishing last season with a 24-13 and a record of 14-6 in the Big East while making it to the Elite Eight before losing to the San Diego State Aztecs by a score of 56-57, the Creighton Jays have started the season with a record of 4-0 following wins at home against the Florida A&M Rattlers by a score of 105-54, the North Dakota State Bison by a score of 89-60, the Iowa Hawkeyes by a score of 92-84, and the Texas Southern Tigers by a score of 82-50. The Jays are the 13^th highest-scoring team in college basketball as they enter this game averaging 92 points per game. Trey Alexander has played a pivotal role in the early season success for Creight as he leads the team in scoring, rebounds, and assists with an average of 21 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 6.5 assists per game.

The Loyola Chicago Ramblers did not make it to the NCAA tournament last season as they finished with a record of 10-21 which included a record of 4-10 in the Atlantic 10 Conference which led to a last-place finish in the conference and the Ramblers were eliminated in the 1^st round of the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament by the Saint Joseph’s Hawks by a score of 67-72. This season, Loyola Chicago has started the year with a record of 2-2 following losses at home against the Florida Atlantic Owls by a score of 62-75 and the UIC Flames by a score of 67-72 while winning at home against the Eastern Illinois Panthers by a score of 89-65 and the New Orleans Privateers by a score of 73-70. Offensively, the Ramblers have struggled this season as outside of the game against Eastern Illinois they have averaged 67.33 points per game while defensively they have been a slightly above average scoring defense as they are allowing an average of 70.5 points per game.

BookMaker has the Creighton Jays listed as 16-point favorites in the 1^st round of the Hall of Fame Classic against the Loyola Chicago Ramblers on Wednesday afternoon. Creighton has won two of the three games all-time in the series while going 2-1 ATS in those contests. The Creighton Jays are 3-1 ATS overall and 3-1 ATS as a favorite this season while the Loyola Chicago Ramblers are 1-3 ATS overall and 0-1 ATS as an underdog on the year.

Creighton is a superior team in terms of talent this season and has been the better team in the series as they have won two of the three meetings all-time in the series. The Jays are 2-1 ATS all-time in the series while also being the better team at covering the spread this season as they are 3-1 ATS overall while the Ramblers are 1-3 ATS overall which is why I am laying the points with the Creighton Jays when they place the Loyola Chicago Ramblers in the 1^st round of the Hall of Fame Classic.