The No. 14 seed Colgate Raiders (25-9) face off against the 3rd-seeded Baylor Bears (23-10) Friday in a 1st-round game in the NCAA Tournament. Tip from FedExForum in Memphis is scheduled for 12:40 p.m. ET (truTV). Below, we analyze FanDuel Sportsbook's lines around the'Colgate vs. Baylor odds, and make our expert'college basketball picks, predictions and bets.
After finishing the regular season 22-9, Colgate won 3 games to claim the Patriot League Tournament title, capped by a 74-55 home victory over the Lehigh Mountain Hawks. The Raiders covered as 8-point favorites and the Under (136) cashed. Colgate is led by Patriot League Player of the Year G Braeden Smith, who averaged 12.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 1.9 steals during his sophomore campaign. Colgate was 17-15-1 against the spread (ATS) and just 1-3-1 ATS over its last 5 regular-season games – the Raiders went 1-2 ATS in the conference tourney.
The Bears lost in the Big-12 Tournament semifinal 76-72 to the eventual champion Iowa State Cyclones. Baylor did not cover as a 2-point underdog and the Over (134.5) cashed. Baylor has one of the most balanced offenses in the country with 6 players averaging double figures in points, led by G Ja’Kobe Walter’s 14.2 PPG. The court general is 2nd team All Big-12 selection G RayJ Dennis who averaged 13.3 points, 6.8 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game. The Bears finished 18-11-3 ATS, including 5-3-2 ATS in their last 10 regular-season games – they went 1-1 ATS in the conference tourney.
Baylor is No. 13 in the .