NCAA Tournament-- Baylor vs. Colorado Pre-Game Notes

We're just under two hours out from Baylor's matchup vs. Colorado in the round of 32 tonight in Albuquerque. To say that things changed dramatically since the last time I updated you about the Big XII's play in March Madness would be the understatement of the century. First and foremost, tiny Norfolk State University shocked Missouri yesterday afternoon in what would be the precursor to an even bigger upset in our own region later in the evening when Lehigh beat Duke. The latter game eliminated the second seed from Baylor's part of the bracket and, in combination with Xavier's win over Notre Dame, cleared the way for Baylor to make a run to the Elite Eight facing only double-digit seeds. Obviously we have to beat Colorado tonight, and they are definitely not slouches by any stretch, but it's starting to look a lot like 2010 all over again. If Baylor wins tonight they will face the winner of tomorrow's game between Lehigh and Xavier at 6:45 CST. Another game in our region to watch will be that between the eighth-seeded Iowa State Cyclones and Kentucky, the highest overall seed in the tournament. If Iowa State pulls off that upset, and I really don't think they will, we'd really have something going in our region.

As for tonight's game, the spread opened yesterday at Baylor +7.5 (if such things mean something to you) and has actually gone upward one-half of a point in several books since then. I don't have access to Pomeroy's subscription page, but I would assume that he has Baylor predicted to win the game by something around that amount, if not more. Most prognosticators I've seen talk about this game have Baylor winning comfortably. I hope they're right.

For more information about how the two teams stack up tonight and links about the game, head below the jump.

In case you missed Tim's excellent preview, I suggest you go back and read that before anything I write here. Don't worry, I'll wait.

Ready to continue? Great. Here's what the two teams did on paper this year. For every possible statistic you could ask for head-to-head, click here.

Rank and Records	CU		BAY
RPI	#50		#9
Strength of Schedule	#82		#11
Overall	24-11		28-7
Conference	11-7		12-6
Home	14-2		14-3
Away	4-7		8-3
Top 25	1-1		3-5
RPI Top 50	3-3		9-7

Now let's get to the links:

• No. 9 MBB Faces Former Big 12 Rival Colorado in Third Round - Baylor Bears Official Athletic Site - BaylorBears.com - No. 3 seed (28-7) Baylor will look to make its second Sweet 16 appearance in program history Saturday against No. 11 seed Colorado (24-11). Saturday's game will tip at approximately 7:40 p.m. CDT on TNT.
• Colorado (24-11) vs. Baylor (28-7) (ET) - KansasCity.com- The 11th-seeded Colorado Buffaloes will need to get past a familiar opponent to reach the Sweet 16, as they will take on their former conference rival and third-seeded Baylor Bears in the third round of the 2012 NCAA Tournament at The Pit.
• Baylor, Colorado Battle In NCAA Tournament Third Round Saturday [Predict]- The Bottom Line: I think Baylor will probably win, but I don’t even trust them to do that after Thursday’s performance. So I’ll take the points. But my advice is avoid a team as inconsistent as the Bears, especially against a good defensive team.
• Colorado shoulders load as last Pac-12 team standing- Colorado, the Pac-12 champion, is the only school remaining in the tournament from the beleaguered conference.
• Carlton: Guard duo is why Baylor has no fear at crunch time | College Sports Blog | Sports News | News for Dallas, Texas | The Dallas Morning News- As a first-year guard combination, Pierre Jackson and Brady Heslip have delivered much of what Baylor lacked last season.
• Baylor, Colorado basketball: quick facts before the matchup | College Sports Blog | Sports News | News for Dallas, Texas | The Dallas Morning News- When Baylor (28-7) and Colorado (24-11) face off Saturday, it'll be the 25th overall match-up between the two, with Colorado leading the all-time series 15-9. This will be the second time they'll meet in the NCAA tourney. The last time they met was 1946 in a 59-44 win by Colorado. Recently, Baylor has won four of the last six games.
• Colorado Buffaloes vs. Baylor Bears - NCAA Tournament Game - Preview - March 17, 2012 - ESPN- ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- Colorado was one of the first dominos to fall in the massive conference realignment that overhauled college sports. Baylor was one of the programs that had the most to lose when the Big 12 looked as if it might disintegrate during all that upheaval. Given all that, it's no stretch to say Saturday's meeting between these former conference foes will mean as much to the commissioners and athletic directors who watch the money as it does to the players who are trying to extend their stay in the NCAA tournament.

Join us back here at 7:15 when the Game Thread goes up for the Baylor Bears vs. Colorado Buffaloes!