Top 25 BYU/Baylor Clash One Of Top College Basketball Games This Week
Jan 8, 2024, 10:04 PM
BYU head coach Mark Pope leads the No. 18 Cougars into Waco against No. 14 Baylor for a Top 25 clash. (Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images)
(Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images)
WACO, Texas – Going into the year, no one expected BYU/Baylor to be a clash of Top 25 teams. For the first installment of the home-and-home series this year in Big 12 play, it’s one of the top games in the nation this week.
Ken Pomeroy has No. 18 BYU vs. No. 14 Baylor as the top game on his “Thrill Score” metrics for Tuesday, January 9, 2024.
The matchup has an 82.4 “Thrill Score” out of 100 as it features two of the top offenses in the country.
BYU’s loss to Cincinnati on Saturday in Provo took some of the luster off the game. But there’s still a lot of excitement nationally for this matchup.
NCAA’s Andy Katz ranks BYU/Baylor as the seventh-best game for the entire week.
Plenty of big games lined up this week 👏@TheAndyKatz lists the top 🔟 matchups to keep an eye on 👀 pic.twitter.com/lENwfYJCE0
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) January 8, 2024
BYU comes into the game with a 12-2 overall record, 0-1 in Big 12 play. Baylor is also 12-2 but has a 1-0 start in the league after defeating Oklahoma State in Stillwater in overtime over the weekend.
Two of the nation’s best offenses are in this matchup. BYU is sixth nationally at 88.2 points per game, Baylor is seventh at 88.1.
The venue for the matchup will also have some significance on Tuesday night as it will play host to its first Big 12 home game. That’s Baylor’s new $212 million Foster Pavilion.
Baylor opened the Foster Pavilion on January 1 and has already played a nonconference game against Cornell. But Tuesday night will be the first Big 12 matchup inside the new facility.
No. 18 BYU vs. No. 14 Baylor
Date: Tuesday, January 9, 2024
Tip-off: 7 p.m. (MT)/8 p.m. (CT)
Arena: Foster Pavilion
TV: Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Radio: KSL NewsRadio (102.7 FM, 1160 AM)
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X and Threads: @Mitch_Harper.
