Two of the best teams in the country are set to face off in the Elite 8. No. 1 Baylor has coasted to three straight double-digit wins in the NCAA tournament and will face off against a No. 3 Arkansas team that barely managed to squeak by No. 15 Oral Roberts in the Sweet 16. These two powerhouses haven’t played against one another this year, and now they will with a trip to the Final Four on the line.
Once the odds from DraftKings Sportsbook are made available for this game, we’ll add that information below. We’ll also add the game time and TV channel once it’s settled.
Game date: Monday, March 29th
Game time: 9:57 p.m. ET
TV channel: CBS
Location: Lucas Oil Stadium Unity (South)
March Madness Odds from DraftKings Sportsbook
Point spread: Baylor -7
Point total: 149
Moneyline: Baylor -335, Arkansas +265
No. 3 Arkansas: 25-6 (13-4)
First Round: Defeated No. 14 Colgate 85-68
Second Round: Defeated No. 6 Texas Tech 68-66
Third Round: Defeated No. 15 Oral Roberts 72-70
KenPom rating: 14 Overall, 37 Offense, 8 Defense
Leading scorer: Moses Moody (17.1) ppg
Key stat of tournament: Arkansas is shooting just 23.8% from three during the tournament.
The Razorbacks were pushed to the edge by the Golden Eagles in the Sweet 16. Arkansas trailed for the majority of the game against one of the best shot-making teams in the country, and the underdogs were led by sophomore standout Max Abmas. Abmas scored 25 points on 8-of-19 shooting, but his team shot under 26% from three in the loss.
Freshman standout Moses Moody struggled with a 4-of-20 shooting performance. Luckily for him, Jalen Tate was red hot and led Arkansas’ scoring effort with 22 points on 9-of-17 shooting. The Razorbacks shot just 37.7% from the field and 11.1% from deep and will hope to get out of their shooting slump in the next round.
No. 1 Baylor: 25-2 (13-1 Big 12)
First Round: Defeated No. 16 Hartford 79-55
Second Round: Defeated No. 8 Wisconsin 76-63
Third Round: Defeated No. 5 Villanova 62-51
KenPom rating: 2 Overall, 3 Offense, 27 Defense
Leading scorer: Jared Butler
Key stat of tournament: Baylor is averaging 9.6 steals per game during the tournament.
Baylor has been dominant at every stage after struggling down the stretch in the regular season but has hit its stride in March Madness. While they trailed Villanova after one half on Saturday, the Bears won the second half by 18 to come away with a victory. BU and Wildcats shot poorly from the field in the Sweet 16, but Adam Flagler’s unexpected 16 points from the bench helped lift the favorites.