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Posted March 20 at 8:00 PM EST

NCAA Tournament - West Regional - Vivint Smart Home Arena, Salt Lake City, UT

9:57 PM EST. Baylor stumbled down the stretch in no small part due to a trio of injuries including leading scorer Tristan Clark, who went down midway through the year. Senior guard Makai Mason picked up the slack left by Clark and became the Bears best scoring option, but he too was banged up late in the year, as was senior guard King McClure. Much has been made that those two players are the only ones that Baylor has that have played in the NCAAs, but that lack of experience may serve the Bears well. They are under the radar, which makes them very dangerous. Baylor led the Big 12 in rebounding margin, which is a great way to measure if a team is outworking its opposition. That carries some weight, as the Big 12 is often a meat grinder and this year was no different.

Syracuse is basketball royalty, which is saying a lot when you play in a conference that features Duke, North Carolina, and Virginia, which also just happen to be three of the four No. 1 seeds in this tournament. The Orange are a going to be given the benefit of many doubts because it is perceived that they play in the nation's toughest conference, but this is a hard team to pin down. Syracuse's best win was a 95-91 overtime win at Duke, but they also lost home games to mid-majors Buffalo and Old Dominion as well as an awful UConn side at Madison Square Garden in November. Syracuse dropped five of its last seven regular season games including a 67-55 decision at Clemson to close out the regular season. It’s also worth noting that their leading scorer, Tyus Battle, missed the ACC Tournament with a back injury, which is another factor in play here. While KenPom ranks the Tigers ahead of the Orange, it's Clemson that is headed to the NIT. Those are the breaks you get when you wear that orange "S" on your chest. It's also the only reason that Syracuse is favored in this game.

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