The Kansas State Wildcats take on the Baylor Bears. Our college basketball odds series has our Kansas State Baylor prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Kansas State Baylor.

This is a fascinating game to contemplate. Kansas State is 2-0 in the Big 12 and Baylor is 0-2. Imagine getting odds on that proposition. You would have made out like a bandit if you were able to put money on such a scenario.

The Wildcats are led by first-year coach Jerome Tang, while the Bears are guided by head coach Scott Drew, who has arguably been the best coach in America over the past three seasons (preceding this one). Baylor was likely to be a No. 1 seed in the 2020 NCAA Tournament before the pandemic wiped it out. Baylor then was a top seed in 2021 and won the national championship. Baylor was a No. 1 seed in last season's NCAA Tournament. That's an amazing run for any program, but especially for a nontraditional power such as Baylor, which was a basketball wasteland 20 years ago. The idea that mighty Baylor would stumble out of the gate in the Big 12 while Kansas State would beat Texas by 13 points — scoring 116 in Austin — was absolutely unfathomable. It sets up a situation in which KSU will try to prove it is for real and Baylor will try to get back into contention in the Big 12 race.

Here are the Kansas State-Baylor college basketball odds, courtesy of FanDuel:

College Basketball Odds: Kansas State-Baylor Odds

Kansas State Wildcats: +6.5 (-110)

Baylor Bears: -6.5 (-110)

Over: 147.5 (-110)

Under: 147.5 (-110)

How To Watch Kansas State vs. Baylor

TV: Big 12 Network/ESPN+

Stream: ESPN+

Time: 6:00 p.m. ET, 3:00 p.m. PT

*Watch Kansas State-Baylor LIVE with fuboTV (Click for free trial)*

Why Kansas State Could Cover The Spread

Baylor just isn't as good as it used to be. Matthew Mayer transferred to Illinois, which everyone can see is a huge loss for BU.  Baylor doesn't have the same reliable late-game offense it used to have. The Bears are certainly missing a piece or two in their lineup, and Mayer's absence emerges as an obvious deficiency.

Look at what happened against TCU and Iowa State, Baylor's two conference losses and its two most recent games. The Bears got off to a strong start in both games. They had a seven-point lead in the first half at Iowa State and led TCU by 10 at halftime. Both leads slipped away. Iowa State beat Baylor by 15, so the Bears really lost the plot in that one after they grabbed the early advantage. They couldn't get big late-game stops against TCU. They're just not the dependable, rock-solid, take-it-to-the-bank team we saw the previous few years.

Meanwhile, Kansas State just hung 116 on Texas in Austin, smoking a Longhorn team which was a trendy preseason Final Four pick. Jerome Tang is clearly getting through to his players and is developing what he has. This has the makings of a special season for the Wildcats. Also keep in mind that KSU is getting almost seven points. Merely keeping this game close will be enough for KSU to cover.

Why Baylor Could Cover The Spread

The Bears aren't a bad team. Their problem is not playing a complete 40-minute game. They can play 15 to 20 very strong minutes. They just aren't following through and sustaining their efforts, but there's talent here. There's a lot of potential. The team which put 49 points on TCU in the first half earlier this week and grabbed a 10-point lead could run opponents out of the building. If we can see that version of Baylor for 40 minutes or even just 35, Baylor will indeed cover the spread against Kansas State, probably with some margin.

Final Kansas State-Baylor Prediction & Pick

Baylor probably wins outright, but the Bears have not shown they can be trusted to win games by large margins. Take KSU.

Final Kansas State-Baylor Prediction & Pick: Kansas State +6.5