Look Toward The Total In Baylor Vs BYU

Baylor vs. BYU, 9:00 ET

I mentioned in my last article that I didn't even make a bet yesterday. It's true and I feel like I may have missed some opportunities, but it was nice to take the day off. I'm not going to miss my opportunities today though. We have a ton of college games and I am looking forward to quite a few of them. This seems to be one of the better games on the matchup as it is a game between two ranked teams. Tonight, I'm looking to take down yet another unit from college hoops as we put a play on Baylor vs. BYU. 

Baylor is one of those teams that always seems to be in the hunt for the best team in the country. They consistently make a run in the tournament, and at least for me, aren't one of the ten schools I'd name when I think of college basketball. Perhaps in a few years with another National Championship or something that changes, but regardless of my thought, they have one of the better programs in the nation and that is apparent with the 11th rank in the country right now and a record of 19-6. This has been a tough stretch for the Bears as they've had to face four ranked opponents in the past five games. They will actually play six games against ranked opponents in seven contests. To their credit, they only have lost one of those games - it was against Kansas in Kansas, a three-point loss. In true road games, like the one tonight, Baylor is 3-3. The best aspect of Baylor is that they are a very well-balanced squad. They have six guys that are averaging over ten points per game. Those same six guys are pretty much the only people that play in the game though so you can tire them out. There is only one other player on the roster that plays more than 10 minutes per game. They are a very good shooting team and they play solid team defense which makes it tough on any opponent. 

Tonight's opponent for Baylor is BYU, another ranked squad. The team is #25 in the nation and comes in with an 18-7 record and a conference record of 6-6. This hasn't been a terrible stretch, and I wouldn't call it a ridiculous stretch for BYU, but they've gone just 2-2 over their past five games. Both of their losses came against Oklahoma teams, and both were on the road. Their two wins were both on the home floor, but neither were overly convincing. They beat a good Kansas State team by six points, and a strong UCF team by two points. Lately, their team has been led by their forward Fousseyni Traore. He's now averaging 10.5 points per game but was heavily involved early in the season before he was injured and missed all of December. They slowly brought him back into the game, and now he is getting fairly steady minutes now. The rest of the team is bolstered by their guard play. They have five guards averaging nine or more points this season. They have a bit of a deeper rotation than Baylor, but they have balanced scoring and attacking from their team. 

I am not sure that either team has that significant of an edge. The line has moved in BYUs favor, but I'm not quite sure they are the correct side. Still, they have a home-court advantage and should be able to compete against Baylor. Will they win? I don't know. Will they cover? I'm not really sure on that either. If the two teams play their typical defense, you're probably looking at a final of 77-76 which puts us very close to the total. I think the total is a bit high though and expect this game to be close and the teams to lock in on defense. I'll back under 154.5 in this one. 

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