In one corner, you’ve got the #2 team in the nation, as recognized by the Associated Press, almost certain to be one of the four #1 seeds in the 2021 NCAA tournament.

That’s the Baylor Bears.

Where to Bet on March Madness 2021

And in the other corner, we have the team that resides in the AP’s #12 slot, with the top freshman in the country, who might also be the #1 choice in the upcoming NBA Draft.

That’s Cade Cunningham and the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

These teams will play on Friday at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City to see who can move forward in the Big 12 Tournament. Game time is 6:30 PM ET.

2021 Big 12 Tournament Predictions

Oklahoma State Cowboys vs. Baylor Bears Betting Report

Tip-off: 6:30 PM ET

College Basketball Betting Odds:

Baylor Bears -9.5

Oklahoma State Cowboys +9.5

Over 151.5 points -110

Under 151.5 points -110

Winning CBB Picks for March Madness 2021

Cunningham was the most highly-touted of this year’s freshman class, and for good reason. He was the Naismith Prep Player of the Year out of Montverde Prep School in Florida (admittedly kind of a basketball factory). As a 6-8 point guard, he had value for virtually any program in America. Oklahoma State hired his brother Cannen as an assistant coach. So that’s where Cade went. Sometimes that’s the way it works in college basketball.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=gRIdEjzKZr0

Another way it works is that sometimes a school gets banned from the post-season for malfeasance on the part of one of its recruiters. In the Cowboys’ case, it was an assistant coach who was caught taking bribes. We figured it might mean more if it was the other way around. There doesn’t appear to be any true “institutional” violations at play here. OSU appealed, and even though this may sound crazy, if they didn’t hear back from the NCAA on the appeal they would be eligible to play in the Big Dance.

They haven’t heard back as of yet, so it looks as if they’ll be good to go.

Frankly, we’re a little surprised that in light of that ruling, which had been handed down last June, Cunningham didn’t just bolt halfway through the season to prepare himself for the NBA Draft, where he is expected by most people to be the #1 selection. But he stayed, and he rang up some monster numbers on occasions, like 40 points against Oklahoma, 26 against Kansas, 25 against West Virginia, and in his only appearance against Baylor, 24 points just a week ago.

He also had 17 points, with seven rebounds and (ouch) six turnovers in Thursday’s Big 12 tournament game against West Virginia.

The turnover thing is very important to explore. The Cowboys coughed it up 20 times against the Mountaineers. That isn’t something way out of the ordinary, as when it comes to Offensive Turnover Percentage, they are outside of the nation’s top 300.

That kind of makes for a difficult matchup against Baylor, which cruised by Kansas State 74-68 on Thursday. The Bears – America’s Bookie’s second choice to win the national title – are third best in the nation when it comes to creating turnovers, as they have done so on almost 25% of their opponents’ possessions. In two games against OSU this season, they forced the Cowboys to commit 34 miscues. Those games resulted in winning margins of 15 and eleven points. That second victory came on the heels of a draining overtime win over West Virginia.

Gonzaga is the only undefeated team in the country. Baylor was hoping it could forge a dream matchup by staying spotless until the NCAA final. But they had to sit for three weeks in February because of concerns about the coronavirus. Upon coming back, they had all they could handle against an awful Iowa State crew and lost to Kansas by 13 points. In those games they shot just 27.5% beyond the three-point circle. And you have to remember that Baylor leads the nation with 42.8% in three-point accuracy.

Live March Madness Betting Odds

But they have their act together now; in the last four games, they have shot 46.5% from downtown.

So they can create extra possessions for themselves and extend leads. That’s enough of a formula to overcome the talents of Cunningham, who has committed 50 turnovers in his last nine games.

The Play: BAYLOR -9.5