Back This Dog Against Ranked Opponent

College basketball has been a bit of a yo-yo for me this season, but there has been a bit more stability lately. I need to keep that rolling and get some more good looks as we head into the conference tournaments and the ultimate big dance. There are a ton of games on the slate today but let's take a look at a couple here.

Texas vs. Baylor, 2:00 ET

Both of these teams have been ranked for most of the year and both have the potential to at least make a deep run in the tournament, but that doesn't always mean anything. Texas has won their past two games, but lost two of their past five games. Baylor has lost their past two games after winning 10 of their last 11 games. Baylor did lose to Texas when they played them on the road earlier in the season. It was a close game, but they just couldn't close it out. It seemed like Texas' defense may have been the reason for Baylor struggling a bit in that game. They only shot 36.8% from the floor and only 30% from deep. There should be more comfort at home for the Bears when they go into this one. If anything improves for them, you'd think it would be their shooting. This basically will come down to if the Bears can score from the arc, and if they do, they win with ease. Texas is a good defensive team from the three, but I think this is probably one of those games that Baylor has the edge and I'll take them at -4.5.

South Carolina vs. Tennessee, 6:00 ET

I don't normally like playing games with big spreads like this. They just aren't comfortable to watch or play most of the time. You'd assume that most teams could at least keep a game within 20 points, but blowouts happen for a variety of reasons. Here's the thing though: South Carolina is not a good basketball team. Sitting at just 10-18 on the season, they aren't a team you'd normally want to support against a ranked opponent. All of that considered, Tennessee has really stumbled this month. At one point they were the second-ranked team in the nation and now they've fallen after only winning one game in their past five contests. I'll give them credit, most of the games were close, even one-score games. Will they come home and hammer the Gamecocks? It is entirely possible, but it is also possible that they continue to play down to their competition. I think the best bet here has to be to take the points. South Carolina may not be great, but they are keeping games close. Tennessee has the potential to be great, but they are not playing good basketball. This is just too high of a spread. Give me South Carolina +23.

I have a few other leans or small plays today that I think are good as well. I was wrong about one the other day with Washington and Cal, now Cal takes on Washington State. There isn't a lot of room for error in this, but I still kind of like the under in it at 125. I think Duke and Virginia Tech also go under the 141.

For more sports betting information and plays, follow David on Twitter: @futureprez2024