Kansas Jayhawks football vs. Baylor Bears: Game prediction, kickoff time, TV
The details
Kickoff: 2:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Booth Memorial Stadium, Lawrence
TV: ESPN
Radio: WHB (810 AM) in Kansas City, KFH (1240 AM) in Wichita
The line: Baylor by 14.
Prediction
It’s not often that the advanced numbers and Vegas disagree this much on a line.
Gambling sites have held steady with Baylor as a 14-point favorite this week. ESPN’s advanced SP+ projections, meanwhile, like the Bears by 24 points based off the two teams’ season-long numbers.
I can’t figure out why there’s such a discrepancy. It’s supposed to be windy at Booth Memorial Stadium on Saturday, which could keep scoring down some, but Baylor still seems to be the much better team. And while the Jayhawks showed excellent signs offensively with last week’s bounceback performance against Iowa State, they still can’t feel too optimistic about a defense that couldn’t come through in the most key moments against the Cyclones.
If KU is going to be competitive, it’ll likely have to be because of offensive success. The weather and opponent — Baylor is one of the nation’s best at limiting big plays — make that a tough ask, which leads me to think we shouldn’t be straying too far from the ESPN numbers here.
Give me Baylor for the win and cover.
Baylor 38, Kansas 17
Last game prediction: Iowa State 45, Kansas 13 (Actual: Iowa State 41-31)
