Baylor Bears vs TCU Horned Frogs Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 01/03/26

The Big 12 basketball schedule gets underway this weekend as the Baylor Bears head to Forth Worth to face the TCU Horned Frogs. The entire talk of the basketball world is Baylor’s controversial addition of former NBA draftee James Nnaji. It is unclear whether he will play on Saturday, or if he knows enough of the offense and defense to log meaningful minutes. Of course, a guy this talented can move the needle even if he is flying a bit blind too. But uncertainty is the name of the game on Saturday for Baylor, and that makes this game hard to handicap. Still, I am taking the Bears +1.5 on the road, and I suspect they will win the game.

Baylor has the more talented roster, and that was true before the addition of Nnaji. Tounde Yessoufou is one of the dozen or so elite freshmen in the country, and Cameron Carr is one of the leading scorers in the country. The crazy thing is that Baylor is still probably no better than the 5^th or 6^th best team in this loaded Big 12 conference. When these teams play, the home team seems to always come out on top, and that matters here, but TCU needs a few things in order to win. They are a team that thrives on turnovers (which Baylor doesn’t usually commit), and they control the glass (while Baylor is one of the best offensive rebounding teams year after year). This is not a great spot for Jamie Dixon’s group, and I think Baylor gets them.

Baylor vs TCU Prediction: Baylor +1.5 (-110) available at the time of publishing. Playable to Baylor -1.5.