Houston Will Dominate Baylor Tonight

Baylor vs. Houston, 9:00 ET

College hoops is one of my favorite things to bet on each year. I enjoy basketball in general - I play it, I coach it, I watch it, I think more about it than I really should. When it comes to a time like this where the NHL is on a break, baseball hasn't started, the NBA is about to hit the All-Star Break, and football just ended last night. That means the hottest betting action is on college games, and so far this year I've done very well in these games. Now we take the game between Baylor and Houston. 

Baylor comes into the game with a 15-8 record, but they don't have that little number next to their name like they did early in the season. They may be a good team, but I certainly agree that they aren't a top-25 team this season. I think they should be able to find a way into the NCAA Tournament, but I don't envision a big run from them. They struggled to start the season, but they haven't been very good in conference play lately either. They are just 7-5 in conference play this year. They started the season by getting blown out against Gonzaga - we got that game right, by the way. Their next loss was against Tennessee, and then UConn. Those three losses were against some of the best teams in the country, but they also beat Arkansas and St. John's in that same time. Their conference losses have been against Iowa State, Arizona, TCU, BYU, and Texas Tech. Four of those losses have come on the road, and only one of them, the loss to BYU, was a close game. The BYU game saw Baylor lose by just four points in overtime, but it was a loss nonetheless. They've been 3-2 over the past five games, with a win against a ranked-Kansas and a loss to a ranked-Texas Tech team (and the BYU game). 

Baylor Bears guard VJ Edgecombe jams it vs. the Tarleton St. Texans at Paul and Alejandra Foster Pavilion. (Chris Jones-Imagn Images)

Houston is one of the better teams in the country and they do currently have one of those little numbers that Baylor is missing next to their name. Houston is fifth in the nation, and they carry a 19-4 record into tonight's game. They've also been very dominant in their conference games with an 11-1 record in conference games. AFter starting the season at just 4-3, the Cougars looked like they were going to really struggle through the season. Then something changed and they were able to run off 13 straight wins to push that record to 17-3. Their loss came at home against Texas Tech, but it was a one-point overtime loss to a good team. It still is a bit surprising to see them drop a home game, but it wasn't a brutal loss at least. They didn't shoot that much worse than Texas Tech in the game, it really was a difference of three-pointers. Texas Tech hit 12 of them and Houston only hit five of them. Everything else in the game was pretty close. I think that's really the only way to describe the reason for the loss. You see it in the NBA all the time, the three-point disparity swings games. 

Tonight, this really shouldn't be much of a contest. Houston will win this one by double-digits and probably will win it by 15 or more. Baylor does have the potential to put up a good game, but they've played really poorly against the top-level competition, especially on the road. I think it would be shocking to see Baylor upset them. I think it would be a surprise to see a cover, even against the big number. Back Houston here. 

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