Kansas vs Baylor Prediction 1/16/26 College Basketball Picks Today

The Baylor Bears and the Kansas Jayhawks meet Friday in college basketball action from Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence. Here’s a Kansas vs Baylor prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Kansas vs Baylor pick.

Baylor Bears Betting Preview

The Bears managed a 6-2 run in their first eight games. The wins in that time were versus UT Rio Grande Valley, Washington, Tarleton State, Creighton, San Diego State and Sacramento State. Next came victories over Norfolk State, Alcorn State, Southern and Arlington Baptist before a string of losses to TCU, Iowa State and Houston over the next three. In their first 15 games of the year that would give the Bears a 10-5 overall record.

In the Oklahoma State game on Tuesday the Bears jumped out to a solid 57-39 lead by halftime. The Bears were outscored 40-37 the rest of the way but still won pretty handily 94-79 in the end. Tonde Yessoufou put up 23 points with five rebounds and Michael Rataj added 19 points with seven rebounds and four assists. Cameron Carr put up 17 points with six assists and two rebounds as well.

Kansas Jayhawks Betting Preview

Over on the Kansas side, they posted a shaky opening five games at 3-2. The losses came versus North Carolina and Duke. The Jayhawks would then take out Notre Dame, Syracuse, Tennessee, Missouri, NC State, Towson and Davidson over the next eight outings before a 1-2 stretch that contained losses to Central Florida and West Virginia (and a win over TCU). Over their first 16 games the Jayhawks were sitting at 11-5 on the year.

Matched up against Iowa State on Tuesday the Jayhawks were in control at halftime with a 44-23 lead. Kansas kept the pace from there on a 40-40 run and took the win in the end 84-63. Tre White was the top team performer on 19 points, 10 rebounds and three assists for a double-double. Darryn Peterson added 16 points with five rebounds and one assist in 27 minutes of work in the win.

Why the Kansas Jayhawks will win

• Kansas has won each of its last 11 games at Allen Fieldhouse against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• Baylor has lost each of its last four games at Allen Fieldhouse.
• Kansas has won the first half in each of its last nine games at Allen Fieldhouse.

Why the Baylor Bears will win

• Baylor has won each of its last 10 night games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• Baylor has won the first half in each of its last eight night games against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Kansas vs Baylor Prediction

I’ll lean toward Kansas. The Jayhawks are coming off a great performance against a very good Iowa State team at Allen Fieldhouse this week. Kansas posted 50.8 percent shooting from the field with 50 percent (12-of-24) from outside and 83.3 percent (10-of-12) from the line. Kansas added a 36-31 rebounding edge, 17 team assists and just eight turnovers in a very well-rounded effort. It’s been a shaky 2-2 run over the last four games for Kansas, but both of those losses have come on the road (versus Central Florida and West Virginia). Playing in Lawrence again Friday is a huge advantage.

As for Baylor, they didn’t have too many issues on the road versus a talented Oklahoma State team this week. The Bears shot a scorching 59.3 percent from the field and 52 percent (13-of-25) from outside, which helped offset the 40-34 deficit on points in the paint and the 11 turnovers. The win halts a three-game losing streak (two of those being against ranked teams and the other being on the road versus TCU). Baylor has another tough road matchup Friday, but they’ll come home for two games after that.