Cincinnati vs Baylor Prediction College Basketball Picks 1/7/25

The Cincinnati Bearcats and the Baylor Bears meet Tuesday in college basketball action from Foster Pavilion. Here’s a Cincinnati vs Baylor prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Cincinnati vs Baylor pick. We will examine:

The Cincinnati Bearcats’ recent form and player performance

The Baylor Bears’ recent form and player performance

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Cincinnati Bearcats

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Baylor Bears

Recent betting trends in games played between Cincinnati and Baylor

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Cincinnati vs Baylor game

Cincinnati Bearcats Betting Preview

Cincinnati’s season kicked off with a nice run, as the team surged to a 6-0 record over their first half dozen games. The Bearcats dispatched Arkansas Pine Bluff, Morehead State, Nicholls State, Northern Kentucky, Georgia Tech, and Alabama State in that time. Following their first loss of the year versus Villanova on December 3, the Bearcats hit another win streak over Howard, Xavier, Dayton, and Grambling in the next quartet. Cincinnati has lost their last pair however, falling to Kansas State and Arizona for a 10-3 overall record so far this year.

In the Arizona game on Saturday, the Bearcats came out of halftime looking at a 39-26 deficit on the scoreboard. Cincinnati rallied in the second half and attempted a comeback, but ultimately fell short in a tough loss 72-67. Leading the team in scoring was Dan Skillings with 18 points, six boards, and two assists. Also in double-figures was Dillon Mitchell with 13 points, seven rebounds, and two steals. Simas Lukosius chipped in nine points, three boards, and three assists, and Day Day Thomas led the bench scoring with nine points and two rebounds.

Baylor Bears Betting Preview

Over on the Baylor side, they lost their opener to a very good Gonzaga team in blowout fashion. The Bears would then hit a winning streak over Arkansas, Sam Houston, Tarleton State, and St. John’s before another loss versus a very good Tennessee team. Following a win over New Orleans and a four-point loss to UConn, the Bears hit another win streak. Those victories came courtesy of Abilene Christian, Norfolk State, Arlington Baptist, and Utah. Baylor fell in their most recent appearance to Iowa State, giving the team a 9-4 overall run through 13 games.

Matched up against the Cyclones on Saturday, Baylor didn’t stand much of a chance. The Bears came out of the break looking up at a 33-25 deficit on the scoreboard. Baylor didn’t end up getting any closer on a 41-30 second-half run and took the blowout loss 74-55. Leading the team in the losing effort was Jeremy Roach with 16 points and three assists, while Josh Ojianwuna doubled up on 13 points with 10 boards and three steals. Robert Wright led the bench players, providing all of that unit’s points (10) with one rebound and one assist.

Why the Baylor Bears will win

• Baylor has won each of its last eight games at Foster Pavilion against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• Cincinnati has lost each of its last three games against Conference opponents.

Why the Cincinnati Bearcats will win

• Cincinnati has won 13 of its last 17 games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• Cincinnati has won the first half in nine of its last 11 night games against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Cincinnati vs Baylor Prediction

I’m leaning toward Cincinnati here. The Bearcats really need to keep their consecutive losses from turning into a full-blown losing streak, so it’d be nice to see them post a convincing effort on the floor Tuesday. In their last outing versus a tricky Arizona team, Cincinnati looked pretty listless in the first half and eventually shot just 39.1 percent from the field, 20 percent (5-of-25) from 3-point range, and 52.2 percent (12-of-23) from the line in a rough offensive game. That makes fewer than 69 points in four of the last five games for Cincinnati (a 3-2 run), so they’ve either got to find some points or some defense here.

As for Baylor, they were drilled by a great Iowa State team in their last game, shooting just 29.7 percent from the field. The Bears have 72 or more points in six of their last seven games, so they’ll provide a pretty good challenge on the road for the Bearcats. I like Cincinnati to pull it off in the end and get back on track, though.