The wicked stepmothers of the West Region will meet in the second round after ending the Cinderella stories of two of the most popular underdogs in the men’s NCAA Tournament. No. 3 seed Baylor Bears (24-10, 12-8 Big 12) and No. 6 seed Clemson Tigers (22-11, 11-10 ACC) put on authoritative displays in their openers — each team won by over 20 points. Baylor is currently favored over Clemson ahead of their second-round matchup.
The Bears won a sixth consecutive opening tournament appearance (2017, 2019, 2021-2024), and they did it in dominant fashion with a 92-67 walloping of Colgate Raiders. Baylor shot 53.3 percent from deep (16-30) en route to setting a program record for points in a tournament game.
Four of Baylor’s five starters reached double figures, led by senior forward Jalen Bridges with 23 and freshman guard Ja’Kobe Walter with 19. Junior guard Jayden Nunn added 15, hitting 4-of-5 from beyond the arc.
Clemson sent No. 11 New Mexico packing with a 77-56 win despite the Lobos being favored by 2.5 points. Clemson held a usually high-scoring Lobos team to their worst shooting performance of the season — 29.7 percent from the field (19-64) and 13 percent from deep (3-23).
Three Tigers reached double figures, led by senior guard Chase Hunter with 21 and junior forward Ian Schieffelin’s 16. Sophomore forward R.J. Godfrey was a defensive force off the bench with three blocks and a steal, along with six points and five boards in 21 minutes.
With a 2021 national championship on its resume, advancing to the second round has become commonplace for Baylor, but this is the first time Clemson advanced to the Round of 32 since 2018. The Tigers lost in the first round to Rutgers in their last appearance (2021).
Our model’s prediction, after 1 million simulations
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71 |
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73 |
See all of our model’s second-round predictions.
What: West Region, Second Round
Tipoff time: 6:10 p.m. ET, Sunday
TV: TNT, streaming on Max
Location: Memphis (you can get tickets here)
Baylor vs. Clemson odds
Odds are from BetMGM and update live.
Expert picks
Players to watch
Baylor
- RayJ Dennis, senior guard, second-team All-Big 12
- Jalen Bridges, senior forward, third-team All-Big 12
- Ja’Kobe Walter, freshman guard, third-team All-Big 12
- Yves Missi, freshman center, All-Big 12 defensive team
Clemson
- P.J. Hall, senior center, first-team All-ACC
- Chase Hunter, senior guard
More NCAA men’s basketball tournament coverage
(Photo credit: Stacy Revere / Getty Images; Justin Ford / Getty Images)
