The No. 10 Baylor Bears (5-2) travel north to Sioux Falls to battle the No. 12 Gonzaga Bulldogs (5-2) Friday at 8 p.m. ET. Below, we analyze Tipico Sportsbook’s lines around the Baylor vs. Gonzaga odds, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and bets.
Rankings courtesy of the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.
This will be another neutral-site game for Gonzaga. Elite teams love to play the Bulldogs. But they refuse to do it on campus. This includes this game being played in Sioux Falls as Baylor comes in to challenge the Bulldogs on Friday.
Drew Timme and the Bulldogs are still one of the top teams in the country despite losing twice in the early season. Timme is one of the leaders for the national player of the year, and coach Mark Few has the team at places no one ever could have thought it would get to. This will be the latest challenge against a Baylor team that beat Gonzaga in the 2021 National Championship game.
Baylor comes in looking to bounce back from an ugly 96-70 loss to Marquette Tuesday. The only other loss for Baylor this season was an 86-79 loss to No. 3 Virginia in Las Vegas. This was the first game for the Cavaliers after the tragedy on campus, and it was an emotional victory for the team.
This will be a heavyweight bout between 2 teams that, although starting a bit slow, will be 2 of the best teams and favorites to win the National Championship come March.
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Baylor at Gonzaga odds
Provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 11:15 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Baylor +125 (bet $100 to win $125) | Gonzaga -150 (bet $150 to win $100)
- Against the spread (ATS): Baylor +2.5 (-110) | Gonzaga -2.5 (-110)
- Over/Under (O/U): 161.5 (O: -115 | U: -105)
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Baylor at Gonzaga picks and predictions
Prediction
Gonzaga 86, Baylor 81
Moneyline
PASS.
Gonzaga has been steamed up from -125, and we’ll look to the spread instead.
Against the spread
BET GONZAGA -2.5 (-110).
This will be almost a home game for Gonzaga in South Dakota.
While Gonzaga did lose to Baylor in the National Championship game 86-70, the Bulldogs won the prior meeting between the teams 83-71. This will be a back-and-forth game. But I like Gonzaga to finally win a close one at the end. GONZAGA -2.5 (-110) is my favorite play in this battle.
Over/Under
BET OVER 161.5 (-115).
Both teams love to score. This also means they give up plenty of points to their opponents. This game will be no different Friday.
So far in the 2022-23 season these teams have gone over a combined 11 out of their 14 games played. This trend, along with both teams wanting to win the game against one of the biggest challenges for the National Championship, leads me to the Over 161.5 in this excellent early season, non-conference matchup. A matchup which, according to rumors, could soon be a conference matchup in years to come. Give me the OVER 161.5 (-115).
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