The second-ranked Baylor Bears will look to get the statement-making win over No. 17 Arizona State when the two national championship hopefuls meet in their opener of the 2K Empire Classic tournament on Wednesday night. The event also features No. 3 Villanova going up against Boston College earlier in the day. Now, let’s find out what lies ahead in this intriguing matchup of nationally-ranked programs so you can go ahead and make your bets against their College Basketball odds.
NCAAB Betting Predictions – No. 2 Baylor at No. 18 Arizona State
Why Bet On No. 2 Baylor
Baylor enters the 2020-21 campaign as the national preseason No. 2 after going 26-4 overall and 15-3 in Big 12 play last season for head coach Scott Drew. The Bears only loss from last year’s team was Freddie Gillespie (9.6 ppg), so Baylor is completely brimming with talent in Waco.
“We have a lot of people coming back, and we get another swing at this,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “We return enough that I know they’re all excited to get a chance to finish what we started last year.”
Baylor’s three leading scorers are back after Jared Butler, Macio Teague and Davion Mitchell put up 16.0, 13.9 and 9.9 points per game respectively a year ago. Butler enters the upcoming season as the preseason Player of the Year pick. If Baylor can get big seasons out of their frontcourt, and there’s no reason to believe they won’t, then they could very well cash in on their +1200 odds to win the 2021 national championship.
Why Bet on No. 17 Arizona State
Arizona State went 20-11 last season under head coach Bobby Hurley and return the Pac-12’s leading returning scorer in electrifying point guard Remy Martin (19.1 ppg) who opted out of the NBA Draft for one more year. Senior guard Alonzo Verge Jr. is back after putting up 14.6 points per game. Not only that, but the Sun Devils have added a pair of big-time talents in freshman wing Joshua Christopher, the No. 12 overall prospect in the 2020 class and and four-star small forward Marcus Bagley, the brother of Sacramento Kings big man Marvin Bagley. Arizona State also added Portland State transfer Holland Woods and Ohio State transfer Luther Muhammad, but this looks like a team that will only go as far as their frontcourt takes them.
“We’re going to need that interior presence, that rebounding, that shot-blocking at the basket and all the things that you talk about in trying to become a complete team,” Hurley said. “That’s our goal.”
Baylor Bears Vs Arizona State Sun Devils General Match Info
- When: Wednesday, November 25, 2020 at 9:00 PM ET
- Where: Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, CT
- TV: ESPN
Expert Analysis and Prediction
I absolutely love Arizona State point guard Remy Martin, who is the best scorer for either team in this affair, but Baylor is the more complete and deeper team in this matchup, plus they return the knowledge of playing together almost intact, from a year ago. Baylor went 1-4 ATS over its last five games a year ago, but the Bears are also 4-0 ATS in their last four neutral site games. Arizona State has gone 0-4-1 ATS over its last five games. This looks like an entertaining affair just waiting to happen, but in the end, Baylor will win and the victory should approach double digits.
Pick: Baylor 79 Arizona State 70
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