March Madness Best Bets: #9 Baylor Vs. #8 Mississippi State

• Baylor has -105 odds to beat Mississippi State in March Madness.
• Baylor has won six straight March Madness first round games.

RALEIGH, N.C. – The #8 vs. #9 matchup in the East Region between Mississippi State and Baylor is arguably the closest matchup of the tournament based on seeding and similarity.

Legal sports betting sites have seen plenty of movement here with Baylor opening as the favorite, then flipping to Mississippi State with the highest spread total coming in 2.5 before finally settling at Mississippi State -1.

#9 Baylor Vs. #8 Mississippi State

• Moneyline: Baylor (-105) vs. Mississippi State (-115)
• Spread: Mississippi State -1
• Total: 144.5

Take Close To Even Money On Baylor

This is some great value on college basketball betting sites for a Baylor team with plenty of momentum going for them heading into the tournament. Mississippi State though, is headed for a spiral in this one.

Baylor has won three of their last five games and has covered the spread in their last three games as well. As for Mississippi State, wins have been hard to come by as they finished the season going 5-8 straight up and are also one of the coldest teams against the spread right not going 6-12 ATS in their last 18 games.

This game will be won on defense by Baylor if they continue to play hard on that side of the ball as they have been. They allow just over 69 ppg to opponents and have held four of their last five opponents to under 65 points. Mississippi State though, has a hard time on defense letting opponents have their way with 74.2 ppg.

When playing in March Madness, in their last three games since 2019 has nothing going for them with an 0-3 record straight up and against the spread. Baylor, in their 12 March Madness games since 2021, they are 9-3 straight up and 8-4 against the spread.

Also, for what it’s worth, the last time Baylor played in March Madness as exactly a +1.5-point underdog, they won the game.

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