Norfolk State Spartans at Baylor Bears

TALE OF THE TAPE Baylor Bears Norfolk State Spartans Record 0-5 (last 5) 0-5 (last 5) Off Rating -- -- Def Rating -- -- Net Rating +0.0 → +0.0 Key Injuries None None Gary's Take This one's interesting – the efficiency gap here isn't as huge as the logos suggest (both teams sit around a neutral net rating near 0.0). Baylor is clearly the better perimeter shooting team (53.7% effective field goal with 35.1% from three), but Norfolk State actually holds its own inside the arc with comparable overall accuracy (52.3% effective field goal on 47.8% from the floor). Baylor’s advantage shows more in physicality than pure dominance: they create extra possessions and easy points with the glass and whistle (about 15 offensive boards per game plus a 0.402 free-throw rate and 73.8% on 25.8 attempts, versus Norfolk’s 13.1 boards and 0.334 rate with 63.2% on 20.9 attempts). But turnovers are basically even (around 11 per game each), and both teams are on identical cold streaks (each 0-5 in their last five), which tilts this toward a competitive cover rather than a full-on blowout (current number about 27.5 points). Lock it in: Norfolk State Spartans +27.5 -110; Baylor wins comfortably, but asking them to clear this 27.5-point margin against a reasonably efficient opponent is a lot (Norfolk still sits over 52% in effective field goal). Only way this dies is if Baylor catches absolute fire from three and never lets up (they already hit 35.1% from deep, and another bump would be lights-out).