BYU And Baylor Both Could Use A Win, But BYU Is Better

BYU vs. Baylor, 7:00 ET

Tuesday is usually a bigger day for College Basketball, but the schedule doesn't have a ridiculous number of games like it normally does. Instead, the schedule makers decided "Let's have fewer games, but let's make them all great matchups." Sign me up for that any day of the week. Don't get me wrong, I'll watch just about any basketball game that is on, but tonight we have a ton of great looks, and I personally am pumped to flip through multiple games tonight. One game that caught my eye was BYU vs Baylor, and I absolutely had to lock in a bet on it. 

BYU is still ranked. They sit currently at 22nd in the nation, but another loss will almost certainly knock them out of the top 25. I'm not really sure what is going on with them, other than this being a tough stretch of opponents, but this is a bad look for the team. They haven't won in around two weeks at this point, and the job doesn't get that much easier tonight. This losing streak, now at four games, started with a three point home loss to Arizona. Then they lost by eight on the road to Kansas. Next was a seven point road loss to Oklahoma State. Finally, on Saturday, they played Houston at home and dropped the game by 11. All of those teams I just mentioned are good teams and likely will make the NCAA Tournament. For some reason, they are struggling significantly against them though. You can't blame it on standout freshman AJ Dybantsa, he has led his team in scoring in three of the four losses. If we go back not even too much further, they have lost five of the past six games. Is this an issue with playing on the road, or was BYU just playing a softer schedule earlier in the year? 

MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE - MARCH 22:  Head coach Scott Drew of the Baylor Bears reacts to a play in the first round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament against the Colgate Raiders at FedExForum on March 22, 2024 in Memphis, Tennessee. (Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images)

Baylor is not having the typical season you expect from them. They are not ranked, and are probably considered a bubble team at best at this point. They are 13-10 for the season, but let's not say they are a bad team. The difference, to me, is that they just aren't as elite as they have been in the past, and they don't have a balanced team. You can see that just by looking at their scoring leader per game. They have only two different names for their high scorer in each of their games this season. In every game it has been either Cameron Carr or Tounde Yessoufou leading the way. When you have just two guys, it tends to be easier to scheme for defensively. Baylor also looked good until the Big 12 play started. They were 10-2 before conference play. Once that started, the team has gone just 3-8. They've had a losing streak of three games and four games in that stretch. They also haven't beaten a ranked opponent this season.

This BYU team really needs to get a victory. I'm not trying to imply Baylor can't use one, but BYU needs to make the adjustments. Dybantsa has been trying to put them on his back, but they need a bit more help. At least against Baylor you know exactly what to do to stop them. The problem might be in the execution more than anything. I do think this is a game that BYU has circled, saying this is one we need to take in order to get back on track. Give me BYU -3.5 in this one.

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