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Edgar Chaput
Clemson (6) vs. Baylor (3) Bracket Prediction: March Madness Odds
Neither the Clemson Tigers nor the Baylor Bears had much trouble dealing with the opposition in Friday’s West bracket action. Each essentially mauled its opponents in a variety of ways. Clemson one-upped New Mexico 77-56, whereas Baylor swatted away Colgate 92-67.
As we proceed deeper into the tournament, the games are harder to predict. Our March Madness odds favour Baylor, but only at -4.5.
Clemson Tigers vs. Baylor Bears NCAA Tournament Point Spread and Betting
Whatever history Clemson and Baylor share in men’s basketball is rather ancient. The schools have crossed paths three times but even the most recent tête-à-tête was in 1983. The Bears have won two of those contests.
The Tigers enter this round of the competition with a spotty history. Clemson sports a 5-4 record in the sophomore stage of March Madness, with the most recent game in 2019, a defeat to Wichita State.
Baylor is slightly better at 5-3, although two of those defeats came the last two times the school made it to the second round (2022 and 2023). The last time they won it wasn’t long ago, however, in 2021.
The most alluring prop as it pertains to this matchup is the over-under. The total is presently set at 145.5. Considering that Baylor just put 92 on Friday and Clemson 77, it would be somewhat surprising for the over not to cash in. There’s no guaranteeing the Bears will quite as hot as they were in round one, but these are two good offences going at it.
Clemson Tigers (6)
First-round matchups tend to be memorable only if there is an upset or a major comeback. There wasn’t much of that in the games involving these round two opponents. Case in point: Clemson’s relatively uneventful destruction of New Mexico, 77-56.
Chase Hunter was on a heater, topping his side with 21 points, although he was only 1-for-4 from distance. Don’t underestimate his ability to help teammates out, as he also pitched in with six dimes. Ian Schieffelin wasn’t too shabby with his 16 points, but more impressive were the 12 boards, four of them coming on the offensive side. PJ Hall added 14 points. New Mexico was deflated pretty early, with the score already 42-28 at halftime. Furthermore, the Lobos shot significantly worse from three-point range than Clemson and took more shots in the process (13 per cent to 33.3 per cent, the latter not even being all that great anyways). Clemson limited New Mexico to six assists. Six!
Baylor Bears (3)
On the topic of good or bad shooting from long range, how about the Baylor Bears on Friday? Not only did they attempt a ton by college standards (30), they shot like the NBA’s Boston Celtics at 53.3 per cent.
Small wonder, therefore, that they flattened Colgate 92-67. This one was over by the half, with the score a comfortable 53-34 advantage for the Bears. Jalen Bridges was 5-for-8 from deep (23 points) and Jayden Nunn went 4-for-5 (15 points). Ja’Kobe Walter didn’t annihilate anyone from beyond the arc but still tallied 19 points. The low-key interesting stat of the match is that not one starter had more than five rebounds, but no one had less then three. That’s teamwork!
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BAY