NCAAB Betting Odds – Baylor Bears Host UMass Minutemen

Massachusetts (7-11 SU, 5-8 ATS, 6-4-1 O/U) vs Baylor (14-3 SU, 8-2 ATS, 7-3 O/U)

Saturday, January 23 – 4:00 PM ET

The University of Massachusetts has fallen on some seriously hard times since former head coach John Calipari bolted the program back in 1996.

Now, a mediocre team with no national ‘blue chip’ players, the Minutemen will try to snap a four-game losing streak when they battle the Baylor Bears on Saturday at 4 PM ET.

UMass doesn’t have a shot against a Baylor team that has been playing some very inspired basketball.

Massachusetts has not topped the 70-point plateau in three games and suffered a heartbreaking 70-69 loss to St. Bonaventure on Wednesday,

The Minutemen had a two-game ATS winning streak snapped but have gone a solid 5-4 ATS over the last nine games.

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Baylor is coming off an 81-75 loss to Kansas on Wednesday, but easily cashed in for college basketball betting backers as a 14-point road underdog to move to a scorching 6-1 ATS over its last seven games.

Here is a look at the college basketball betting trends surrounding this contest.

• Minutemen are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 road games.
• Minutemen are 5-13 ATS in their last 18 non-conference games.
• Bears are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 Saturday games.
• Bears are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 non-conference games.
• Bears are 8-1 ATS in their last 9 games overall.

Analysis: With no point spread posted for this matchup and no recent meetings between these teams to look back on, I surmise the points spread for this matchup will have Baylor favored by somewhere in the neighborhood of 7-10 points.

Either way, I say play the Bears to win and cash in against their inferior opponents.

Baylor is the better ballclub at both ends of the floor in this matchup.

The Bears average 77.3 points per game to the Minutemen’s 70.5 points per contest while allowing just 64.6 points per game compared to the 74.3 per game that UMass allows.

Massachusetts has lost three games in a row by double figures and I expect Baylor to help make it four in a row in this game. Play the Bears if the spread doesn’t go to far past 10 points.

Eric’s Expert Picks: Baylor Bears minus the points