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Big 12 Betting Roundup: Texas, Kansas Leading Charge

Baylor Welcomes First-Place Longhorns to Town

It is looking like a two-team race as the Big 12 season winds down. Kansas and Texas have a two-game lead on Baylor and Kansas State with just three games remaining in the regular season. Before the Longhorns and Jayhawks meet up in the regular-season finale, there is some work to do in the coming days.

With five teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 poll and nine of the 10 teams in the Big 12 having winning records, every game on the schedule is a contender for the game of the week. However, it is pretty hard to top Saturday’s Baylor-Texas showdown.

Guard Sir'Jabari Rice #10 of the Texas Longhorns
Guard Sir'Jabari Rice #10 of the Texas Longhorns | John e. moore iii/getty images/afp

The week got off to a rousing start with two matchups between ranked teams on Tuesday as Kansas State topped Baylor by 10 and Texas rolled to an 18-point win over Iowa State.

Kansas moved up from fifth to third in the Associated Press Top 25 poll and from seventh to fourth in the coaches poll. Texas is eighth in both national rankings with Baylor also in the top 10 in both polls.

Kansas State tumbled two spots to No. 14 in the Associated Press poll and to 16th in the coaches poll.

According to the college basketball odds, Kansas (+1000) is tied for third in the odds to win the national title. Baylor (+1400) is tied for sixth, Texas (+2200) comes in eighth followed by TCU (+3500) and Iowa State (+4500).

Kansas leads the nation with 14 Quad 1 wins and is sixth in the latest NCAA NET rankings. Texas comes in ninth followed by No. 12 Baylor, No. 15 Iowa State, No. 20 Kansas State and No. 22 Texas Christian, so the Big 12 will be well represented when the March Madness bracket is announced next month.

Here’s a look at Saturday’s games in the Big 12 with some odds and betting information to consider.

Let’s check the latest college basketball news, stats, injury reports and college basketball lines. We’ve got plenty of NCAA basketball picks for you to consider.

Game of the Week

Texas vs Baylor

  • Date, time (TV): Saturday, Feb. 25, 2:00 p.m. ET (ESPN)

There is little time for Baylor to feel sorry for itself after losing back-to-back games for just the second time this season. The Bears welcome a Texas team that is tied for the Big 12 lead to Waco.

Texas (22-6, 11-4 Big 12) goes for the season sweep after Sir’Jabari Rice had 21 points off the bench in a five-point win. Rice is averaging 17.4 points over his last eight games.

The return of Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua has given Baylor some offense and a rebounding presence off the bench for Baylor.

There could be plenty of points in this matchup since Texas and Baylor are the top two scoring teams in the Big 12. Texas had 12 3-pointers in a win over Iowa State, with Tyrese Hunter one of three Longhorns with three 3-pointers in the game.


Baylor (20-8, 9-6) has won six straight versus the Longhorns before the five-point win at home by Texas on Jan. 30. Texas hasn’t swept a home-and-home from Baylor since the 2013-14 season.

Rest of Saturday’s Schedule

Oklahoma vs Iowa State

  • Date, time (TV): Saturday, Feb. 25, Noon ET (ESPN)

Both teams are reeling a bit coming into this matchup.

Oklahoma (13-15, 3-12) squandered a seven-point lead before falling to Texas in overtime on Saturday and then lost at home to Texas Tech on Tuesday as the Red Raiders shot 62% from the field.

If the 16 turnovers didn’t squash any hopes that the Cyclones would win at Texas, going 4 of 19 from 3-point range certainly sealed the deal.

Caleb Grill and Tre King both missed that game. Grill is second on Iowa State (17-10, 8-7) with 52 3-pointers.

The Cyclones snapped a five-game losing streak to Oklahoma with a convincing 75-54 win the last time the Sooners came to town. It was also the fifth time in the last six games to finish over the total.

Texas Christian vs Texas Tech

  • Date, time (TV): Saturday, Feb. 25, Noon ET (ESPN2)

The last three times that a ranked team came to Lubbock, it was the host Red Raiders who came away with the win, so TCU will try to accomplish what Iowa State, Kansas State and Texas could not.

Texas Tech (16-12, 5-10) has very quietly put together the second-longest active winning streak in the Big 12 behind only Kansas’ five-game run.

De’Vion Harmon is averaging 16.5 points and 4.3 assists as Texas Tech has won four games in a row. Jaylon Tyson has 45 points on 78% shooting in the last two contests.

TCU (18-10, 7-8) threw a scare into defending national champion Kansas the last time out despite shooting just 30% from the field. Leading scorer Mike Miles has 28 points in the two games since returning to action.

Seven of the last 10 games in the series finished over the total. However, TCU’s 67-61 win on Dec. 31 fell well short of the 137½-point total set by the sportsbook.

The home team has won the last six matchups.

Kansas State vs Oklahoma State

  • Date, time (TV): Saturday, Feb. 25, 2:00 p.m. ET (ESPNU)

Kansas State made quite the statement with a 10-point win over visiting Baylor on Tuesday night. It was the second straight win against a ranked opponent. Keyontae Johnson led the way with 25 points and four assists for his eighth 20-point effort of the season for the Wildcats (21-7, 9-6). That’s a pretty impressive feat for a player whose career appeared to be over after some serious health issues when he was at Florida.

Oklahoma State (16-12, 7-8) has dropped three straight games to fall into a tie for sixth place in the Big 12 standings.

Leading scorer Kalib Boone has been struggling to stay on the court. He fouled out in six minutes in Monday’s loss to West Virginia. He has eight fouls and seven points over 16 minutes in his last two games.

Five of the last seven games in the series have finished under the total with each of the last meetings being decided by eight points or less. When the teams met on Jan. 10, Markquis Nowell had 20 points, five rebounds and seven assists as the Wildcats won 65-57 as a five-point favorite.

Kansas State leads the Big 12 with a 19-9 record against the college basketball betting lines.

West Virginia vs Kansas

  • Date, time (TV): Saturday, Feb. 25, 4:00 p.m. ET (ESPN)

This is all about taking care of business for Kansas with the next two games coming against teams with losing records in Big 12 play.

After enduring a stretch when he struggled to score, freshman Gradey Dick is averaging 20.3 points over the last three games for Kansas (23-5, 11-4). He is one of the main reasons why the Jayhawks were able to come away with a five-point win over nationally ranked TCU despite leading scorer Jalen Wilson managing to score just seven points.

West Virginia (16-12, 5-10) has lost its last three road games, all to ranked opponents. Leading scorer Erik Stevenson averages just 11.7 points on 38% shooting on the road compared to 16.2 points on 46% shooting at home.

Kansas has won nine of the last 10 games against West Virginia and covered in eight of those games.

There have been 19 West Virginia games to finish over the Las Vegas odds total, the top mark in the Big 12.

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