No. 2 Baylor and No. 6 Florida State’s National Title Odds See Little Movement After a Crazy Saturday in College Hoops

• No. 2 Baylor’s National Title odds actually got shorter while No. 6 Florida State’s stood pat after both suffered losses to unranked teams
• Nine top-25 teams lost on Saturday in total, including four of the top nine
• Are the Bears or Seminoles a good bet or is there a better wager on the board?

Upsets reigned supreme on a wild Saturday in college hoops. All told, five top-25 teams suffered defeats, including four of the top nine. Both No. 2 Baylor and No. 6 Florida State fall into that category, but surprisingly neither saw much movement in their March Madness price.

2020 NCAA Tournament Odds

Odds taken Feb 29th.

The Seminoles stood pat at +1600  in the 2020 NCAA Tournament odds, while the Bears’ price was actually shortened from +850 to +800.

Tamed By TCU

Baylor fell to unranked TCU 75-72 in Fort Worth. The loss was the Bears second in three outings, following a Big 12 record 23-game winning streak. Baylor’s normally stout defense fell apart in the second half, surrendering 54 points, 19 of which went to Desmond Bane.

UPSET IN FORT WORTH!

Unranked TCU defeats No. 2 Baylor, marking its second win vs. an AP Top-3 team in school history. pic.twitter.com/Dt6cW4w6XK

— ESPN (@espn) February 29, 2020

Prior to Saturday, the Bears had held eight conference opponents below 55 points total in games this season, but they allowed the Horned Frogs to shoot 76% in the second half. Just four weeks ago, Baylor limited TCU to 52 points total en route to a 16-point win in Waco.

Last week the Bears were ranked No. 1 in the nation, but a home loss to the country’s new top team Kansas and now this defeat at TCU will surely knock them out of the top two spots in the AP top-25 rankings.

Crashing Against Clemson

No. 6 Florida State had a golden opportunity to seize control of the ACC Saturday, but came up short 70-69 versus unranked Clemson. The loss was the Seminoles second in the last nine games and now puts them in a tie with No. 11 Louisville, with four conference defeats a piece.

CLEMSON KNOCKS OFF NO. 6 FSU 😱 pic.twitter.com/II85GYEgpb

— ACC Network (@accnetwork) February 29, 2020

The loss is especially discouraging since it comes on the heels of a huge 15-point win over the Cardinals. Saturday was Florida State’s chance to put some distance between themselves and Louisville in the ACC standings, but instead the conference regular season title is going to come right down to the wire.

Fade Both of These Programs

Saturday reinforced the point that there’s no true dominant team in college basketball this season. Half of the top-10 teams that were in action went down, and the No. 1 Jayhawks barely survived against unranked Kansas State. With so much volatility at the top of the board, it makes absolutely no sense to buy a team like Baylor or Florida State at such short prices.

The NCAA Tournament Selection Committee should just handle the seeding by picking team names out of a hat.

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) February 29, 2020

Plenty of programs with championship pedigrees are available at longer odds and I’d much rather roll the dice with a team like No. 24 Michigan State.

SPARTY ON! 💪

No. 24 Michigan State hands No. 9 Maryland their first home loss of the season! #GoGreen pic.twitter.com/03IWWXJ8wS

— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) March 1, 2020

The Spartans knocked off No. 9 Maryland on Saturday and saw their March Madness odds shorten to +1800. They have one of the best coaches in college basketball, two elite scorers and a wealth of experience. They rebound and defend very well, shoot a high field goal percentage and are efficient from three.

You can’t go wrong with Michigan State at +1800.