North Carolina vs. Baylor Prediction
A pair of teams that won their opening round matchups on Thursday will tip off the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday afternoon when 8 seed North Carolina takes on 1 seed Baylor at 12:10 p.m. ET. Are the Tar Heels a good bet to cover as 5.5-point dogs?
Game Snapshot
791 North Carolina Tar Heels (+5.5) vs. 792 Baylor Bears (-5.5); o/u 148.5
12:10 p.m. ET, Dickies Arena, Fort Worth, TX
TV: CBS
North Carolina Tar Heels DFS Snapshot
Armando Bacot recorded 19 points (9-10 FG, 1-2 FT), 14 rebounds and two assists over 36 minutes before fouling out of Friday’s 72-59 loss to Virginia Tech. Bacot did what he could to carry UNC in this game, but the rest of the team didn’t help him, and as a result, the Tar Heels couldn’t reach the ACC Tournament final to set up a matchup against Duke. Bacot posted six double-doubles in his final seven games of the campaign, and he should play a big role for the team in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
Baylor Bears DFS Snapshot
Baylor head coach Scott Drew said Kendall Brown (lower body) will be available Thursday for the Bears’ matchup with Norfolk State in the opening round of the NCAA tournament, Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports reports. Brown briefly exited Baylor’s 72-67 loss to Oklahoma State on March 10 in the Big 12 tournament due to the lower-body injury, but he was ultimately cleared to return. The 6-foot-8 forward is apparently feeling OK a few days following the game, and with a full week of rest in advance of the NCAA tournament, he shouldn’t face any limitations Thursday. The freshman finished the regular season and Big 12 tournament play with averages of 10.0 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.0 steals in 27.2 minutes per game over 32 appearances.
March Madness Betting Prediction
Baylor is a perfect 6-0 against the spread in its last six NCAA Tournament games, is 7-2-1 against the number in its last 10 neutral site games and is 6-2-1 at the window in its last nine neutral site games as a favorite. On the other side, the Tar Heels are just 2-5-1 against the spread in their last eight neutral site games, are 7-18-1 at the window in their last 26 neutral site games as an underdog and are winless at 0-6 against the spread in their last six NCAA Tournament games as an underdog.
MARCH MADNESS BETTING PREDICTION: BAYLOR BEARS -5.5
