Thursday’s NCAA basketball betting lineup includes the big boys of the Big 12 coming out to ply their trade, among them the defending national champion Baylor Bears who take on the Oklahoma Sooners. Read on for some high-quality betting advice and start cashing out at the top-rated sportsbooks.
Oklahoma Sooners vs. Baylor Bears
Thursday, March 10, 2022 – 07:00 PM EST at T-Mobile Center
It has been a terrific season for the Big 12 overall, and especially good for Scott Drew and Baylor as they prepare for this quarterfinals matchup in the conference tournament against Oklahoma. Coming off their first NCAA Championship a year ago, the Bears spent time ranked No. 1 earlier this season and are projected to be the No. 1 seed at the dance this time around.
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Considering it was get-acquainted time for Porter Moser in his first season as Oklahoma head coach, the Sooners did about as well as first thought when they were picked seventh in the Big 12 on the NCAA basketball futures. Still, considering Oklahoma is the No. 7 seed in this tourney and only six Big 12 teams are projected to go dancing next week, it could have been better.
‘Under’ a Strong Trend in Rivalry
Slotted as the third contest of Thursday’s quarterfinal action, ESPN has the broadcast from Kansas City. Some of the earliest lines on BMR’s NCAAB odds board had Baylor giving up 8½ with 136 for the total, the spread roughly halfway between the numbers for the regular-season matchups on both courts with the scoreboard target a tad lower.
Oklahoma and Baylor played out their regular-season series over an 18-day period in January. The Bears couldn’t quite cover a 12-point spread in Waco where they posted an 84-74 triumph, but Baylor had a much easier time of it in Norman a couple of weeks later with a 65-51 decision that more than tripled up a 4-point line.
With those victories, the Bears have an 8-game win streak in the rivalry heading into Thursday’s tilt, though the Sooners maintain a solid 45-23 lead in the rivalry. The final in the matchup at Ferrell Center in Waco went past the total to end a string of six consecutive ‘under’ winners in the series, and the contest in Norman comfortably stayed ‘under’ a 138-point mark.
Baylor and Oklahoma last met in the Big 12 Tournament in 2014 when the Bears pulled off a mild 78-73 upset of the Sooners in the quarterfinal rounds. There hasn’t been much for Baylor to celebrate in the last three league tourneys with the Bears dropping three of their last four games; Oklahoma has been 1-and-done in three of its last four conference tournaments.
Sooners 3-1 SU, 2-2 ATS at Neutral Sites
Moser’s tenure in Norman got off to a very nice start when the Sooners roared out of the gate by winning 11 of their first 13 contests. Included in that string was a 74-67 win over then-No. 14 Florida as small home pups, and a very impressive 88-66 neutral-site romp past an Arkansas team that is projected to be a No. 4 seed at the NCAA’s.
Everything started to unravel in the first meeting with Baylor down in Waco, and the Sooners ended up losing 12 of 15 after that fast start. Two of those defeats were tough overtime defeats at TCU and home against Texas, a couple of teams bound for March Madness.
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Oklahoma did manage to get things together at the end with three consecutive wins to close the regular-season slate. The Sooners wrapped things up last weekend in Manhattan against Kansas State, returning home with a 78-71 victory over the Wildcats who were 2½-point home favorites with BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)
Bears Cover 15 of Last 21 Neutral Site Tilts
Baylor ended the conference slate tied with Kansas for the best regular-season record but was dropped to the No. 2 seed in the tiebreaker because of losing twice to Texas Tech while the Jayhawks split with the Red Raiders. The Bears went a healthy 5-3 against AP top 25 sides on the year, covering the college basketball odds in four of those contests.
They suffered a huge blow in the first half of the February 12 matchup with Texas when Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua went down with a knee injury that required season-ending surgery. In the follow-up loss at Texas Tech, LJ Cryer reaggravated a foot injury and his status for the Big 12 Tournament this week is in question.
Tchatchoua and Cryer combined to average 17.5 PPG in Baylor’s two matchups with Oklahoma, each coming off the bench on both games. That has me shying away from playing the Bears with my free college basketball pick, and instead of going with the ‘under.’
NCAAB Pick: Under 136 (-110) with Bovada (visit our Bovada Review)
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.
