While they aren’t the only undefeated team remaining in the country, 14 straight wins including a nine-point victory over the Texas A&M Aggies in their Big 12 opener has the Baylor Bears stealing the spotlight as we welcome the new sports betting year. Coming off of a big win over Mississippi State in Dallas, the Bears had little trouble with an Aggies’ team that had won nine of their 13 games this season, with Perry Jones III once again stepping up to contribute 14 points and 12 rebounds in their first game since climbing two spots to no. 4 in the national rankings. Looking ahead to the next couple of weeks on the Baylor schedule, and it won’t get any easier for Jones and company with four of their next five against nationally ranked opponents, including No. 7 Missouri and No. 14 Kansas. That stretch will be a real test of just where this team belongs early on, and if the Bears’ early season play is any indication, the answer to that is right near the top.
A lot of the attention has been on Baylor and their improbable rise the past couple of weeks, college basketball betting fans that have stayed with the Syracuse Orange in spite of everything that they have gone through have been rewarded with some incredible results. The Orange are still at the top of the national rankings with a perfect record, even though just one of their 15 wins has come against a ranked opponent. Syracuse improved to 2-0 in the Big East with victories against Seton Hall and DePaul, and while they face Marquette coming up this weekend, they still have some time before they take on the true heavyweights in the conference, including one-loss Connecticut and Georgetown. Both of those teams are in the top-10, and should provide a better test of where head coach Jim Boeheim’s team is.
The pay head bookies will take note that the Orange weren’t the only team that received a first place vote this past week, as the No. 2 Kentucky Wildcats received one, and moved up to the second spot in the national rankings following a seven-point win over the fourth-ranked Louisville Cardinals. Should Syracuse follow with their tough schedule ahead, the Wildcats should be right there to pounce on the top spot given that they don’t play another game against a ranked opponent until February. The Cardinals slipped down to No. 11 with the loss, allowing the North Carolina Tar Heels to climb all the way up to three, with the Duke Blue Devils rounding out the top-five at No. 5.
There is still a long way to go before anything is determined for this year’s conferences, but for the most part the strong play from teams such as Syracuse and Baylor are strong indications for future success. Playing either team on betonline right now should be a good play, but don’t get too carried away once they get to the toughest parts of their schedules.
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