Baylor Faces UC Santa Barbara First Four Betting Odds and Analysis

Certainly, the Baylor Bears took a step back in the 2022-23 season.  Nor is it a March Madness betting surprise that they did.  Head coach Scott Drew’s program faced the challenge of roster turnover from nationally elite teams that won a national championship.  While Baylor did not produce the level of past success, they still won 22 games and made the NCAA Tournament.  Also, the Bears have one of the nation’s better offenses but must tighten up defensively for a serious NCAA Tournament run.  Baylor has a dangerous first-round game against a highly profitable UC Santa Barbara team.

UC Santa Barbara vs. Baylor CashBet Wagering Analysis

On the positive, Baylor finished well with seven straight-up wins in its final ten games.  Most important of all, Drew has the record of a coach that can quickly adapt.  And Drew has a proven Bitcoin sportsbook record in the NCAA Tournament.  Baylor is the bigger brand in its matchup with UC Santa Barbara.  Thus, the Gauchos will get an enhanced price.

UC Santa Barbara Prints Money and Takes Big West Title  

Overall, the Santa Barbara Gauchos are 24-7 straight up, 19-10 against the spread, and 18-11 over/under the total.  Santa Barbara has national rankings of 179^th for scoring offense, 7^th for field goal percentage, 158^th for 3-point field goal percentage, 154^th for free throw percentage, and 296^th for offensive rebounding.  While on defense, Santa Barbara has national rankings of 54^th for scoring defense, 206^th for field goal percentage permitted, 258^th for 3-point field goal percentage allowed, and 5^th for defensive rebounding.

Late on, Santa Barbara covered six of its last seven 2023 March Madness Betting matchups.  The Gauchos went over the total in eight of their final nine outings.  Santa Barbara won the Big West Conference tournament.  Namely, Ajay Mitchell leads the Gauchos with 16.4 points and 5.1 assists per game.

Baylor Limps Into March Madness With Mixed Signals

The Baylor Bears are 22-9 straight up, 16-14-1 against the spread, and 15-15 over/under the total.  Overall, Baylor has national rankings of 51st for scoring offense, 186^th for field goal percentage, 55^th for 3-point field goal percentage, 69^th for free throw percentage, and 251^st for offensive rebounding.  While on defense, Baylor has national rankings of 179^th for scoring defense, 275^th for field goal percentage permitted, 77^th for 3-point field goal percentage allowed, and 55^th for defensive rebounding.

Baylor failed to cover three of its final five bet on NCAA basketball matchups.  Also, Baylor went over the total in two of its last eight outings.  Keyonte George leads Baylor with 15.8 points per game.  Baylor finished third in the Big 12 Conference, two games behind the championship Kansas Jayhawks.  

Gabe Kalscheur knocked down six 3-pointers and scored 24 points.  But everyone else wearing red had a hand in the huge advantage on the boards.  Including a 21-5 edge on the offensive glass.  And that allowed the fifth-seeded Iowa State Cyclones to beat the fourth-seeded Bears 78-72 on Thursday.

Additionally, Jaren Holmes added 17 points.  While Tamin Lipsey had 12 and Tre King 10 for the Cyclones.  Iowa State followed up a win over the Bears on Saturday by beating them for the fifth time in six conference tournament games.

Jalen Bridges went 10 of 11 from the field and topped his career high with a three early in the second half.  Subsequently, he finished with 28 points for Baylor.  Bridges was the one giving Iowa State the most fits.  He drilled a couple of his 3-pointers early in the second half.  Also, he was 9-9 from the field and 6 of 6 from the arc before missing his first shot with 11:45 to go.  But the Cyclones were there to capitalize on his missed jumper when he finally missed.

UC Santa Barbara vs. Baylor CashBet Free Pick  

As mentioned earlier, UC Santa Barbara has provided superb 2023 March Madness betting value this season.

UC Santa Barbara vs. Baylor CashBet Best Bet  

UC Santa Barbara Gauchos