The Baylor Bears’ and the Oklahoma State Cowboys’ march madness odds will presumably be better or worse or just stay the same at the end of their game on Wednesday, 8th February at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, OK. In any case the result is more than likely going to have some sort of impact on march madness betting.
Like Dorothy, the Bears had a bad Kansas experience, losing to the Kansas Jayhawks and the Kansas State Wildcats back to back. Manu Lecomte missed a jump shot with 20 seconds remaining that would have put Baylor ahead against the Wildcats, while Johnathan Motley missed two shots in the last seconds and with them the chance to tie the game; the second of which was blocked by KSU’s DJ Johnson in the dying seconds of the game. It was the Bears’ first home loss of the season. Motley led Baylor with 17 points and 14 rebounds, but shot 6 for 17 from the floor. The Bears have been known to come from behind this regular season, but may have waited just a little too long to rally this time. Baylor was outscored in the paint 26-22 despite having the bigger guys. The Bears dropped four spots in the AP poll and their march madness odds may have suffered as well, which is something to keep in mind when march madness betting rolls around. Baylor defeated OSU 61-57 on January 7th in Waco, Texas.
The Cowboys have already knocked off a ranked opponent – the West Virginia Mountaineers. Phil Forte scored all of his 13 points in the second half – including nine in the last five minutes – to lead OSU to an 82-75 win over WVU. Oklahoma State shot 25 of 40 (62.5%) from the field. Now that both Baylor and Kansas lost over the weekend, the Cowboys have the longest winning streak in the league at five. Jawun Evans made a driving layup to give OSU a 71-69 lead with 4:17 to go, and made four free throws to make it 78-74. Forte also made four FTs to wrap up the win. Jeffrey Carroll was the Cowboys’ top scorer with 20 points, 17 of which came before halftime. OSU managed to beat a ranked team in their fifth try this season. This victory could entitle the Cowboys to an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament (also known as march madness betting), so to say that it boosted their march madness odds would be an understatement. OSU has made vast improvements on defense, allowing 70 ppg during their current winning streak, down from 86 points in the past six games. The Cowboys lead the all-time series with Baylor 54-25, and 26-6 in Stillwater. However, Baylor is 13-8 since March 2007, and swept last year’s series. The Bears will be looking to win four in a row versus the Cowboys for the first time in the history of the series. A win on Wednesday would tie the 2011-12 season as Baylor’s best 24-game record in school history.