The No. 9 seed Big 12 member Baylor Bears (19-13) will square off with the No. 8 seed ACC constituent Syracuse Orange (20-13) in the first round of the 2019 Men’s Basketball Tournament. The match is scheduled for Thursday, March 21st, 2019 with a scheduled tip-off time of 9:56 PM ET. The game will be televised on truTV live from the home of the Utah Jazz, Salt Lake City. The Bears and Orange have met twice since 2006 with the Orange winning both occasions and covering in both matches as the favorite.
Baylor Bears vs. Syracuse Orange Overview
Baylor Bears
The Bears backed into March Madness riding a four-game losing streak. Baylor has not won in the month of March. The Bears have not covered since February 19th which was six games ago. The ice-cold Bears were last in action on March 14th when they were knocked out of the first round of Big 12 Tournament by the eventual champion, Iowa State. The Bears were nowhere near close to covering as they were smashed 83-66 by ISU as a +2.5 point spread dog.
Syracuse Orange
The Orange were last in action in on the same day as their counterparts and suffered a loss to perhaps the best team in all of America, the Duke Blue Devils. As a 12-point underdog, a push was created when the Orange fell to the Blue Devils by a score of 84-72 in the ACC Tournament.
Reasons To Back Baylor
The Bears have a nefarious reputation when it comes to Men’s Basketball Tournament. Unlike Cuse who have been known as overachievers, the opposite has been the case with the Bears as they have been on the wrong end of history as a victim of upsets and blowouts in games they should be competitive in. As a result, the Bears will likely be in sell mode because of this narrative. When you add in their present form, Baylor is positioned to be severely undervalued. This is where we step in.
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Reasons To Avoid Syracuse
The Orange are one of the most recognized names in college basketball. For this reason alone, takers can expect to pay a premium to back Cuse here especially against a team with a reputation like Baylor’s. The fact remains had the circumstances been different and BU not been riding a losing streak into this match-up, perhaps the Bears would be favored. However, to many eyes they see Cuse spotting low hanging fruit, and it looks deceptively good. The fact 75% of the public is in on Cuse should suggest that this could be a potential overlay in the making and a possible let-down spot for the Orange against a cold team.
- Get more details: Baylor vs Syracuse NCAAB Tournament Match-up
