How and what to watch for #2 Baylor vs. #1 Gonzaga preview

UPDATE: Baylor vs. Gonzaga has been canceled due to Covid-19.

It’s not often you’ll get to see the top two teams in the sport see each other early on in the regular season, but that’s what we’ll get to see on Saturday afternoon when the No. 2 Baylor Bears take on the top-ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs with both teams coming in with a 3-0 record this season.

Gonzaga has had an impressive start to the college basketball season, beating the Kansas Jayhawks 102-90 to start the year, Auburn Tigers 90-67 and just took down the West Virginia Mountaineers 87-82 on Wednesday night. Jalen Suggs went down with an ankle injury in the first half but returned to spark the Bulldogs’ comeback in the second half. We’ll see how healthy he is a few days after the injury that appeared to be severe when it happened.

Baylor head coach Scott Drew returned to the bench for the first time this season in its last game after missing the first two, testing positive for the coronavirus. The Bears took down No. 5 Illinois 82-69 to keep their record undefeated. Baylor’s ability to score in a variety of ways will be key against Gonzaga with four players scoring in double figures including Adam Flagler, who came off the bench to lead the team with 18 points. Davion Mitchell added 15, Jared Butler had 12 and Macio Teague put up 11 points.

Game Time/TV Channel/Streaming

You can watch #2 Baylor vs. #1 Gonzaga on Saturday, December 5th at 1:00 p.m. ET on CBS, or you can watch via the CBS Sports app with a cable or streaming service login.

Point Spread, Totals, Odds, Trends

Point spread: Baylor vs. Gonzaga (-3)
Point Total: 159.5
Money line: Baylor (+130) vs. Gonzaga (-155)

• Gonzaga is 7-0 straight up in its last seven games, and Baylor is 5-3 straight up its last eight.
• The point total went over in 16 of Gonzaga’s last 18 games, and the over hit in six of Baylor’s last seven.
• Gonzaga is 7-0 straight up in its last seven games as a favorite, while Baylor is 6-1 against the spread as the underdog.

The Best Bet

Both teams have looked so good this season, and they already have big wins that justify their rankings as the two best teams in college basketball. Because of that, I’m inclined to take the points because this is going to be a must-watch game on Saturday afternoon. Baylor took control in the second half against a very talented Illinois team that has Final Four aspirations, and Gonzaga already has two wins against ranked teams on its resume. Let’s take Baylor plus the points.

Pick: Baylor +3

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