Defending national champion Baylor, ranked No. 3 in the nation, surely will be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament if the Bears win the Big 12 Tournament. They open play in that event as solid favorites on the NCAAB odds Thursday vs. Oklahoma.
How to Bet Oklahoma vs. Baylor NCAA Basketball Odds & TV Info
- When: Thursday, 7 PM ET
- Where: T-Mobile Center, Kansas City
- TV: ESPN
- Stream: ESPN app
- Radio: Tunein.com
- Opening NCAAB Lines: Baylor -8.5 (total 135.5)
Season Series
Baylor leads 2-0. They last played on Jan. 22 at Oklahoma and the final score was 65-51. Adam Flagler scored 16 points, LJ Cryer added 14 points and Matthew Mayer had 12 for the Bears. Baylor shot 61% in the second half. Umoja Gibson scored 13 points and Elijah Harkless added 12 for the Sooners (12-7, 2-5), who committed 25 turnovers. Baylor collected 16 steals and scored 35 points off Oklahoma’s turnovers.
Why Bet on Oklahoma?
The Sooners (17-14) closed the regular season with a 78-71 win over Kansas State for a third straight victory. There were seven ties and nine lead changes before Tanner Groves made a layup to give Oklahoma the lead for good amid a 7-0 spurt that made it 52-47 with 12:27 to play. Mark Smith hit a 3-pointer to pull Kansas State within two points but Jacob Groves (Tanner’s younger brother) answered with a three-point play with 9:25 left and the Wildcats got no closer. Umoja Gibson hit a seven 3-pointers and finished with 29 points on 9-of-14 shooting and Tanner Groves added 14 points.
Gibson, Jordan Goldwire, Tanner Groves and Elijah Harkless earned All-Big 12 Honorable Mention accolades and C.J. Noland was named to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team. Gibson started all 31 games and ranks second on the team and 13th in the Big 12 in points per game (12.3). Gibson led Oklahoma in Big 12 action with 12.4 points per contest and was the lone Sooner to top 200-plus points (223) during the 18-game conference slate.
Goldwire started all 31 games and averaged 10.4 points, 3.4 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game. The senior point guard finished the regular season ranked seventh in assists and steals per contest in the Big 12. Groves boasted a team-high 12.4 points per game in 30 starts and added 5.5 rebounds per contest. Harkless appeared in 26 games with 23 starts and averaged 10 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game.
OU is 26th nationally and second in the Big 12 in field goal percentage (47.7%) and 49th in scoring defense (64.9). Oklahoma is sixth in the nation in two-point field goal percentage (57.6%) and 24th in effective field-goal percentage (54.6%).
Oklahoma averages 36.9 points per game in the second half compared to 30.5 points per game in the first. The Sooners have tallied 12 second half performances of 40-plus points and have yet to score 40 points in the first half this season.
Oklahoma is 3-2 all-time vs. Baylor in neutral-site games.
Why Bet on Baylor?
Baylor (26-5) shared the Big 12 regular-season title with Kansas. The Bears closed the regular season with a 75-68 win over Iowa State, BU’s fifth straight win. ISU rallied from a 25-point first-half deficit to take a late lead, but third-ranked Baylor scored nine-straight points and rode the hot hand of senior point guard James Akinjo to pull it out.
In a 20-minute stretch at the end of the first half and first 12 minutes of the second half, Iowa State hit 23-of-30 shots from the floor, outscored the Bears, 56-29, and went up 60-58 when Ajaz Kunc scored on a layup off an Akinjo turnover. With the game knotted at 62-62, freshman Kendall Brown blocked a dunk attempt by ISU at the 4:28 mark, sparking a 13-3 run by the Bears that put the game away. Guard LJ Cryer (13.5 ppg) has played just one game since late January due to injury but could play Thursday.
BU won a school-record 26 regular-season games and finished with its 2nd-most conference wins (14). Baylor has won 13+ conference games in 3-straight seasons after never doing so prior to 2019-20. BU swept Oklahoma this season and is looking to beat OU 3 times in a season for the first time. BU has gone 3-0 vs. an opponent 4 times in B12 history (2010 UT, 2014 TCU, 2015 WVU, 2021 K-State).
The Bears have won 9-straight tournament elimination games and 16 of its last 17 neutral-site games (9-straight). BU is seeking its 15th win vs. a Big 12 team this season, which would tie a school record (15-3 in 2020).
Baylor is 38-2 vs. unranked teams over the last 2 seasons (+20.3 avg scoring margin). The Bears have won 18 of their last 20 games away from home – 9-0 neutral, 8-3 road. BU is 18-0 this season when winning points in the paint and 17-1 when committing fewer turnovers than its opponent.
Baylor ranks top-30 nationally in scoring margin (9th, +13.5), steals (23rd, 8.7), assists (24th, 16.0), offensive rebounds (14th, 12.8), turnovers forced (22nd, 15.7) and turnover margin (30th, +3.0).
Game Trends
- Sooners are 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games vs. a team with a winning straight up record.
- Sooners are 1-9 ATS in their last 10 Thursday games.
- Bears are 15-5-1 ATS in their last 21 neutral site games.
- Bears are 2-5 ATS in their last 7 Thursday games.
Expert Prediction
- Baylor 78, Oklahoma 70
2023 March Madness Sweet 16 Schedule
Men's College Basketball Playoffs Betting Predictions and Analysis:
Thursday, March 23 | Sweet 16
| No. 3 Kansas State vs. No. 7 Michigan State | 6:30 p.m. | TBS |
| No. 4 UConn vs. No. 8 Arkansas | 7:15 p.m. | CBS |
| No. 4 Tennessee vs. No. 9 Florida Atlantic | 9 p.m. | TBS |
| No. 2 UCLA vs. No. 3 Gonzaga | 9:45 p.m. | CBS |
Friday, March 24 | Sweet 16
| No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 5 San Diego State | 6:30 p.m. | TBS |
| No. 1 Houston vs. No. 5 Miami | 7:15 p.m. | CBS |
| No. 6 Creighton vs. No. 15 Princeton | 9 p.m. | TBS |
| No. 2 Texas vs. No. 3 Xavier | 9:45 p.m. | CBS |
2023 March Madness Sweet 16 Betting Tips
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College Basketball Betting Center
NCAAB Odds and Lines
| NCAAB Betting |
| March Madness Odds |
| NIT | CIT | CBI |
| National Championship Championship |
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