texas southern @ baylor

[loophole]

texas southern +20: meet the tigers of texas southern, currently a jaw-dropping 0-9 but #1 in the country in one category of significance - strength of schedule. thus far they have lost to the likes of gonzaga, ohio state, syracuse, kansas, clemson and oregon. think that's a tall order for any team? they are most likely #1 in miles traveled also, as every game they've played thus far has been on the road. matter of fact, they won't play their first home game until new year's day. after tonight, they still have road games left at wyoming, tcu and byu. what kind of sadistic coach makes a schedule like this for his own team? all i can say is he must be doing something right as texas southern has been the swac conference champions for the last 3 years. note the tigers play a physical style of ball, use a 12 man rotation, and don't back down from anyone. except for blowouts at gonzaga and kansas, they've been competitive in every other game they've played. most recently, they were locked up with oregon with less than 4 minutes to play. point is, these guys can play, don't be fooled by their record. the ride from houston to baylor will seem like a donut run to these guys. finally, baylor is not likely to be pumped to lay a crushing on these guys, even though i'm sure coach drew will talk them up as much if not more than i just did.

put my bet in this morning, would still be a buyer at +19. caveat emptor, neither of these teams are from conferences that i follow closely during the season. the game just fit with the kind of intangibles that i handicap from, its a short schedule tonight, and the game is on espn2 so i have something to watch during the commercials of the football game.


glta