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The Baylor Bears are set to face the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Check out our college basketball odds series, which includes our Baylor Texas Tech prediction, odds, and pick.
The Baylor Bears, when fully healthy, might be the best team in the country. They were the last unbeaten team in the United States this season, and they lost to Texas Tech with Jeremy Sochan out of the lineup. That doesn't take away from what the Red Raiders achieved with their win in Waco; even with Sochan missing, no one expected Tech to pull the upset on the road, but they did.
That having been said, Baylor will not be fully healthy for the remainder of the season. One of the Bears' core performers is out for the rest of the year. Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua, a glue-guy forward who helps all the pieces of the puzzle come together on a Baylor roster whose strength lies less in one player than in the collective whole. College basketball odds experts will tell you that rather than viewing Baylor as a team with an MVP — one piece it can't live without — the Bears are a team in which every piece matters fairly equally, and that taking away any piece disturbs the balance coach Scott Drew has established. When making a Baylor Texas Tech pick, you have to consider whether Baylor's remaining players can sufficiently compensate for the loss of Tchamwa Tchatchoua. Those players definitely stepped up this past Saturday against Texas in a blowout of the Longhorns, but it will be tough to win on the road in Lubbock.
When considering a Baylor Texas Tech prediction, you have to admit that Texas Tech has exceeded expectations this season, having already defeated Baylor and Kansas. The Red Raiders are going for a sweep of Baylor here. They almost swept Kansas, having led the Jayhawks by five in the final two minutes before losing in double overtime. Texas Tech head coach Mark Adams has done really well in his first season after taking over for Chris Beard, who went to Texas. The Red Raiders have established Lubbock as one of the toughest places to play not only in the Big 12, but in the whole country.
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Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Baylor-Texas Tech odds:
College Basketball odds: Baylor-Texas Tech Odds
Baylor: +1.5 (-114)
Texas Tech: -1.5 (-106)
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Over: 136.5 (-110)
Under: 136.5 (-110)
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Why Baylor Could Cover the Spread
The Bears were great against Texas even after Tchamwa Tchatchoua got hurt. There are a lot of capable, high-quality players on this team; no superstars, but certainly players who can pick up the slack when another guy is unavailable. Baylor struggled without Sochan and also L.J. Cryer, but the Bears have not collapsed without these players. They have struggled and wobbled, but they haven't been bad; they just haven't been as good as they were when fully intact. That's an important distinction to make. Of course this team can avenge its earlier loss to Texas Tech.
Why Texas Tech Could Cover the Spread
The loss of Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua matters in this specific game because Texas Tech requires effort plays to win, and without one of Baylor's toughest blue-collar players on the floor, the Red Raiders have a much better chance of winning the battle on the glass and getting more second-chance points.
Final Baylor-Texas Tech Prediction & Pick
The absence of Tchamwa Tchatchoua will matter in this game. It should be a close and physical slugfest, but Texas Tech has the better odds of winning a rebounding battle or a scramble for a loose ball in the final minutes which might affect the outcome. That's what it comes down to.
Final Baylor-Texas Tech Pick: Texas Tech -1.5
