Baylor Will Take Down Gophers In College Basketball Crown

Baylor vs. Minnesota, 10:30 ET

Sure, the Final Four is this weekend, but believe it or not, we have some other College Basketball games going on this week. I’m not going to try to lie to you and tell you that they are super high-quality teams, but still, basketball with average teams is still better than no basketball. Tonight, we get a nice matchup between two teams in the College Basketball Crown Quarterfinals as Baylor takes on Minnesota. 

Baylor enters the game at 16-16, and a win here will assure them of having a .500 or better season. That doesn't mean much in the long run, but I do think most teams care about it for a pride factor. They started the year 4-0 before losing to St. John’s, a respectable loss. They then won six of their next seven to run their record to 10-2. It was downhill from there. The team lost 11 of their next 14 games. They didn’t have a run in them in the Big 12 Tournament either. They dropped a game to Arizona State, losing 83-79. The team is very guard-heavy, with their top six scorers all playing the position. In fact, the only guy who averages more than three points a game who is not a guard is Caden Powell who is a center averaging seven points per game. They are pretty inconsistent shooters, but collectively they shoot 34.5% from three. 

Minnesota Golden Gophers guard Isaac Asuma (1) celebrates with fans after the teams win against the Indiana Hoosiers after the game at Williams Arena.

(Matt Krohn-Imagn Images)

Minnesota didn’t have a very good season, and a loss here would make them a team that is under .500 for the year. They are already 15-17, so they would have to win the College Basketball Crown (whatever this tournament is) to have a winning record. The reality is that it probably won’t happen. They started the season 4-1, but they lost to Missouri, the only reasonably talented team that they faced. Almost immediately, they went 1-4 over their next five games with the won win actually being impressive with them beating a ranked Indiana team. It somewhat looked like they figured it out, winning five straight and getting them to 10-5. Then, they proceeded to lose seven straight games, and nine of 10 games. In the Big 10 Tournament, they ended up losing by five to Rutgers. The Golden Gophers have a lot of backcourt talent as well. Three of their top four scorers are guards. The other is Jaylen Crocker-Johnson, a forward. I assume he will not be back for this game. He hasn’t played since February 8th. 

This probably won’t be the prettiest game in the world. I’m guessing the actual basketball is going to be a bit underwhelming. That doesn’t mean it can’t be a tight game, and a well-contested one at that. I think the game will likely be an over, because both teams are heavy on guard play. However, that means we need to rely on a bunch of guys who haven’t played competitive games in about two weeks. I think Baylor should win this one as they seem to be a bit deeper and I think it matters in games like this. I’ll back the Bears -3.5. 

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