North Carolina vs. Baylor: NCAA Tournament odds, final score predictions from ESPN, KenPom

The 8-seed North Carolina Tar Heels (25-9) take on the 1-seed Baylor Bears (27-6) in the 2nd Round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday at 12:10 p.m. ET. Here’s how to watch, odds, ESPN BPI predictions and KenPom game predictions as well for both teams ahead of Saturday’s 2nd Round clash.

How to watch North Carolina vs. Baylor

Time: 12:10 PM ET

Channel: CBS

Location: Dickies Arena — Fort Worth, Texas

Odds

Baylor is a 5.5-point favorite over North Carolina on Saturday, according to Vegas Insider.

Money line: Baylor -238, North Carolina +193

Spread: Baylor -5.5, -110, North Carolina +5.5, –110

Total: Over/Under 148.5, -110

Check out the rest of Vegas’ odds for Saturday’s slate here.

ESPN BPI Predictions 

Matchup quality: 83.7%

Win probability: Baylor, 82.8%

Predicted point differential: 10.2

The College Basketball Power Index (BPI) is a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of performance going forward. BPI represents how many points above or below average a team is. Strength of Record (SOR) is a measure of team accomplishment based on how difficult a team’s W-L record is to achieve. 

Game predictions account for opponent strength, pace of play, site, travel distance, day’s rest and altitude, and are used to simulate the season 10,000 times to produce season projections. Numbers update daily,’ per ESPN.

For the rest of ESPN’s BPI predictions, click here.

KenPom Predictions

Score prediction: Baylor 78, North Carolina 71

Win probability: Baylor, 74%

Check out the rest of KenPom’s predictions for North Carolina vs. Baylor and the entirety of college basketball here.

North Carolina’s Brady Manek looking to make personal history against Baylor

North Carolina dominated Marquette from the opening tip and never looked back as the Tar Heels took down the Golden Eagles 95-63 in the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 64. UNC’s graduate transfer forward Brady Manek had one of his most complete games of his career against the Golden Eagles

Manek was the most productive Tar Heel on the court, finishing with 28 points on five made 3-pointers points and 11 rebounds. He was hot all afternoon and Manek knew it, falling two points shy of tying his career high.

“Yeah, I knew,” Manek said about his scoring total. “You know, just having guys like Caleb [Love] RJ [Davis] Leaky [Black] out there helped me get my open shots.”

With their victory, the Tar Heels will now advance to the Round of 32 against the defending national champions in Baylor, who are coming off an equally dominating performance against Norfolk State Thursday. During his career at Oklahoma, Manek never made a Sweet 16, and looks to make a bit of personal history, but has a major challenge in front of him.

“You know, this is this is the game I wanted to get back to,” Manek said of Baylor. “[I’ve] never made it past this next round. And that’s what I told him whenever [Hubert Davis] was recruiting me, I want to get back to this spot. And, you know, you’ve got to keep playing hard, playing tough and we do what we did today.”