Abilene Christian vs Baylor Game Information

Abilene Christian vs Baylor Preview

Abilene Christian (6-3, 2-2 on Road) heads to Waco, Texas to face No. 15-ranked Baylor (5-3, 3-0 at Home) in a non-conference mismatch on Monday evening. The Wildcats head in here winners of two straight, beating Omaha by 16 (71-55) and New Mexico State by 8 (78-70). Baylor lost its last game to two-time defending national champions Connecticut and the Bears have also lost to Tennsseee and to Gonzaga in their opener and have yet to register a quality win. Baylor is 2-0 lifetime vs ACU, beating them by 27 (81-54) at Home on November 1, 2022 and by 28 (103-75) in the last meeting, also in Waco, on October 25, 2012. The Wildcats have made the NCAA Tournament two times (2019, 2021), and they actually upset No. 3-seed Texas as the No. 14-seed in their last appearance before being eliminated by UCLA in the Second Round (67-47). Last year, Abilene Christian played in the Collegeinsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) where they beat Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the First Round (73-63) before getting bounced by Tarleton (86-59) in the Second Round.

Abilene Christian Seeks First Big Win of New Season

Abilene Christian (4-3-0 ATS, 4-3-0 O/U) plays in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) which they joined in 2021 after playing in the Southland Conference the prior 8 seasons. The Wildcats finished in 8th place in the WAC last season, going 10-10 in league play (5-10 on Road) and 16-18 overall. This year Abilene Christian is led by F Leonardo Bettol (15.0 ppg), G Quion Williams (14.1 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 3.1 apg), G Hunter Jack Madden (11.3 ppg), F Bradyn Hubbard (7.7 ppg, 4.8 rpg), G Dontrez Williams (6.1 ppg), and G Rich Smith (5.0 ppg) and will be seeking its first quality win after beating NMSU, Nebraska Omaha, Southern Miss, Texas State, private Abilene school McMurry (NCAA Division III), and Howard Payne (NCAA Division III).

Abilene Christian Betting Trends

• This will be Abilene Christian’s 6th straight Road game
• The Over is 4-1-1 in ACU’s last 6 Road games
• The Wildcats are 3-1 SU in their last 4 games
• The Over is 4-1-0 in the Wildcats last 5 games
• Abilene Christian was 18-15-0 ATS last season (54.6%)

Baylor May Be Giving Too Many Points vs. Wildcats

Baylor (3-5-0 ATS, 6-2-0 O/U) and 21st-year Head Coach Scott Drew lost some key cogs from last year’s team including Keyonte George (NBA Draft, Jazz), Adam Flagler (Thunder), Dale Bonner (transferred to Ohio State), Jordan Turner (transferred to Louisiana Tech), and LJ Cryer, who transferred to rivals Houston. The Bears went 24-11 (11-7 in the Big 12) and made it to the Big Dance where they beat Colgate in the First Round (92-67) before losing to Clemson in the Second Round (84-72. Baylor did have a nice recruiting class and had two players transfer in. The Bears currently have five players in double-digits in F Norchad Omier (15.6 ppg, 10.0 rpg), G Robert Wright III (13.1 ppg, 4.6 apg), G Jeremy Roach (12.8 ppg, 4.1 apg), G Jayden Nunn (12.3 ppg, 3.3 rpg)—a Transfer from VCU—and G VJ Edgecombe (11.0 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 3.0 apg).

Baylor Betting Trends

• Baylor was 20-12-2 ATS last season (62.5%)
• The Bears have played 4 Overs in 5 games
• Baylor is 0-4 ATS in its last 4 games overall after covering 3 straight
• The Over is 3-0-0 in Baylor’s last 3 games at Home
• The Over is 7-3-0 in the Bears last 10 games overall

Abilene Christian vs Baylor Prediction

Abilene Christian averages 78.2 ppg and allows 70.7 ppg, but as we said, the Wildcats haven’t really faced any tough competition yet. There is no doubt Baylor will race out to an early lead here and likely win by double-digits, but thoughts are the oddsmakers may make this Point Spread a little too high. Last year. ACU’s biggest losses were by 20 to NC State (84-64) and by 18 to Missouri State (87-69) so looking at the Road Underdog is this Abilene Christian vs Baylor NCAAB pick. The Bears biggest wins last season were by 59 points to Mississippi Valley State (107-48) and by 51 points vs Northwestern State (91-40), but the Wildcats are much better than either of those programs as their inclusion in those aforementioned NCAA and CBI tournaments reveals. Ken Pomeroy has Baylor ranked at No 26 and Abilene Christian at No. 173.

Kevin’s Pick: Abilene Christian +20.5