Best College Basketball Bets Today – Free (Saturday 2/18)

The 2022-23 college basketball season is in midseason form, and we get some exciting matchups in the middle of conference play. Below is my favorite bet for Saturday’s slate. 

Kansas vs. Baylor

(Line: Kansas -5, DraftKings Sportsbook)

It’s a huge top-10 matchup here with Big 12 title implications as a piping-hot Baylor team travels to Phog Allen to take on the Kansas Jayhawks. The Bears are winners of nine of their last 10 after starting conference play 0-3 and have seen their offensive efficiency rating jump up to No. 1 nationally (per KenPom) behind their extremely talented backcourt. Kansas also has been playing well coming off two tough road wins and are winners of five of their last six. Baylor got the best of the Jayhawks in their earlier matchup in January in what was a very back-and-forth game throughout.

How Baylor wants to attack you is to force mismatches through switches and have their elite shot makers in their backcourt of Adam Flagler, LJ Cryer and Keyonte George work in isolation. The Jayhawks are perfectly comfortable defending in isolation, switching 1 through 5 with swingman KJ Adams at the center spot and have elite isolation defenders in Dajuan Harris, Kevin McCullar and Jalen Wilson. Although veteran leader Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua is back from injury for the Bears, it’s their defense that hasn’t been too great for them this season ranking 78^th nationally (per KenPom). Scott Drew actually has been moving away from their “no-middle” defensive scheme a bit as of late and toying with his old school 1-3-1 zone, which shows his concern defensively as well. Kansas is one of the more electric offenses in the country behind All-American Jalen Wilson and have been getting much more production out of their bench (which has 2 points in the first meeting) recently. I am a little more skeptical than most about this Baylor team that works entirely too much in isolation that could lead to poor shot selection, and this matchup against a very disciplined Kansas squad in a hostile environment in Lawrence could spell trouble. I’ll lay the points.

The Pick

Kansas -5