Baylor vs. UC Santa Barbara Odds
| Baylor Odds | -600 |
| UC Santa Barbara Odds | +450 |
| Opening Spread/Current Spread | Baylor -11/Baylor -10.5 |
| Over/Under | 143 |
| March Madness odds for Baylor-UC Santa Barbara via bet365. | |
With the men's 2023 NCAA Tournament bracket finally set, March Madness is officially underway.
Find out how 3-seeded Baylor and 14-seeded UC Santa Barbara matchup statistically, plus how our college basketball betting experts are projecting this first-round matchup to play out.
Baylor vs UC Santa Barbara will tip off at 1:30 p.m. ET on Friday, March 17 on TNT.
Statistical Matchup
| Baylor | UC Santa Barbara | |
| 217 | Tempo | 302 |
| OFF | DEF | |
| 55 | eFG% | 134 |
| 170 | TO% | 136 |
| 18 | R% | 72 |
| 40 | FTR | 121 |
| DEF | OFF | |
| 232 | eFG% | 31 |
| 77 | TO % | 79 |
| 299 | R% | 241 |
| 186 | FTR | 75 |
| All statistics courtesy of ShotQuality. | ||
Instant Analysis
This is a dangerous matchup for Baylor here in the first round because of how bad the Bears have been at defending the rim. Baylor is allowing the highest field goal percentage at the rim — a whopping 72.6%, per Hoop-Math. UC Santa Barbara, meanwhile, has the 41st-highest frequency on those shot attempts.
UC Santa Barbara also gets to the free-throw line at a top-75 rate in the country, which is an area that Baylor struggles defensively, ranking outside the top 80.
The Bears are without a doubt on upset watch.
— BJ Cunningham
For more coverage of the 2023 NCAA Tournament and Selection Sunday, make sure to check out our experts' live reactions to the bracket reveal and the Selection Sunday live show, where you can get their instant analysis on every matchup as well as some early insights to help you make your bets.
Don't forget to print out your 2023 NCAA Tournament bracket, as well — and while you're there, enter the bet 365 Bracket Challenge content for your chance to win up to $10,000,000. Enter for free at actionnetwork.com/bracket.
