St. Mary's vs. Baylor NCAA Tournament Sweet 16, Odds & Picks: If God were to choose a NCAA Tournament game to watch it would probably be the Sweet-16 matchup between that little Catholic school from Moraga, Calif., 10th-seed St. Mary's College and the big Baptist school from Waco, Texas, Baylor University. And if you expect miracles in this game then think again. St. Mary's is good enough it doesn't depend on Miracles. Not if they show up against Baylor the way they did in defeating second-seed Villanova in the second round last weekend. Saint Mary's and Baylor open up play in the South Region semifinals at approximately 7:30 p.m. Eastern (CBS).
Baylor is listed as a 4 1/2-point favorite versus St. Mary's with a 142 total according to oddsmakers at SPORTSBETTING.com. Gaels backers are getting +170 odds on the SPORTSBETTING.com moneyline while Baylor is giving -200.
One would think the success St.Mary's has had in the 2010 NCAA Tournament, that bettors would be backing the team but that doesn't seem to be the case. For this game with Baylor, 71 percent of early side bets taken are on the Bears while 64 percent of moneyline action is on the Bears. In totals betting, the UNDER (142) is the preferred wager by 83 percent.
St. Mary's is throwing its hat in the ring as this year's Cinderella after knocking off second-seeded Villanova 75-68 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at the Dunkin Donuts Center Saturday. The Gaels covered as a 4-point underdog while the final score played UNDER the 153-point total.
LaceDarius Dunn netted a game-high 26 points to lead Baylor to a 76-68 victory over Old Dominion in the second-round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday. Baylor covered the 4.5-point spread, and the 144 points sailed OVER the posted total of 129.5. Josh Lomers added 14 points for Baylor, and Tweety Carter chipped in with 12 in the win.
NCAA Tournament Predictions: Baylor is bigger, more athletic and comes from a pedigree league. Just like everybody else St. Mary's has defeated this tournament. We like the little Catholic school to whip the Babtists or at least cover the +4 1/2-chalk.
