Posted at 2:00 PM EST. Odds subject to change.

Pinnacle -2 -105 BET365 -2 -110 Sportsinteraction -2 -110 888Sport -2 -110

United Supermarkets Arena, Lubbock, TX

Texas Tech -2 over Baylor

Streaming: ESPN2

6:00 PM EST. Add this one to the list of lines today that raise an eyebrow on the level of The Rock in his prime. In this case, it is #11 Baylor, who is an underdog on the road to an unranked Texas Tech side. It would be one thing if perhaps the Bears had stumbled into this Big 12 regular-season finale, but that is not the case, as Baylor has won three straight games and saw their national ranking rise four positions this week. Furthermore, the Bears are a team that is starting to get some attention from the talking heads as a “sleeper” team to cut down the nets in the NCAA Tournament as a 33-1 shot, or so, depending on where you shop. As for those NCAA Tournament prospects, the Bears are in, and even if they flame out in the Big 12 tournament, they are likely going to be given a #3 or #4 seed, regardless.

Meanwhile, the Red Raiders are fighting to get into such a position, as to avoid a less than favorable second-round matchup. Texas Tech (TTU) is currently slotted anywhere from a #6 to a #8 depending on your Bracketology expert of choice, but in either scenario, they’d be looking at either a #1, #2, or #3 in the second round. In short, the Red Raiders' work is not done here, and they can make a splash with a signature win today over a ranked invader, and a run in the Big 12 tourney. The Red Raiders are currently fourth in the conference, tied with Kansas at 10-7 with both schools trailing Baylor by one game, but TTU holds the tiebreaker over the Jayhawks. The Red Raiders also beat Baylor earlier this year, and so with a win here, they can catapult into sole possession of third.

The top four teams in the Big 12 get a double-bye to the quarterfinals, and with both #20 BYU and TCU trailing Kansas and TTU by one game, there are four teams fighting for one spot. In case you were wondering, Kansas plays #1 Houston today, while BYU is a -13½ favorite over Oklahoma State, while TCU is -7½ over UCF. The Red Raiders control their destiny today, and when the oddsmakers tell us something, we tend to listen. Today, they are screaming at us that Texas Tech is the play in this game. Win, lose or draw, that’s all we need to know.

Sherwood

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