Baylor vs. Washington: 2019-20 college basketball game preview, TV schedule

A terrific match-up is on the horizon in Alaska, as Baylor and Washington get set to do battle in the 2019 Armed Forces Classic.

TV schedule: Friday, November 8, 9:30 pm ET. ESPN.
Arena: Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage, Alaska.

Two teams with legitimate aspirations to win their respective league crowns during the 2019-20 campaign will collide on Friday evening in Anchorage, Alaska. Baylor, out of the Big 12 Conference, is meeting up with Washington, from the Pac-12 Conference, at the Alaska Airlines Center as part of the 2019 Armed Forces Classic, the ninth-annual installment of this event.

For the Huskies, it’s the initial affair of their 2019-20 term, while the No. 16 Bears smoked Central Arkansas at home in their stanza opener, 105-61, behind 30 points from sophomore guard Jared Butler, who connected on a career-high eight shots from beyond the arc.

In 2018-19, Washington captured the Pac-12 regular-season trophy and finished at 28-8, losing to a No. 1 seed, North Carolina, in the NCAA Tournament’s second round. Baylor, too, got knocked out in the second round of the 2019 March Madness, falling to another No. 1 seed, Gonzaga. The Bears wrapped up 2018-19 at 20-14.

Both of these groups expect to contend for conference glory in the present campaign. The Pac-12 preseason poll slots the Huskies at No. 3 in that league and the Big 12 preseason ballot places Baylor at No. 2 in its conference.

Mike Hopkins, the reigning back-to-back Pac-12 Coach of the Year, leads a Washington unit that saw four seniors graduate after 2018-19, as well as sophomore guard Jaylen Nowell leave early for the pros.

Those five guys accumulated about 80 percent of the Huskies’ scoring a term ago, which is massive, yet Hopkins has reloaded with an esteemed 2019 recruiting class, featuring five-star center Isaiah Stewart and five-star power forward Jaden McDaniels. Plus, sophomore guard Quade Green, a transfer from Kentucky, recently received a waiver by the NCAA and may compete for Washington immediately.

Conversely, the Bears are a veteran crew that has returned nine players who possess at least 26 duels of Division I experience, according to an announcement from Baylor’s athletics department. Junior forward Tristan Clark, for one, is on the All-Big 12 preseason team. Head coach Scott Drew is in his 17th stanza at the helm of the Bears and has consistently guided Baylor into the post-season.

The Bears, 1-2 all-time against the Huskies, are forecast as having a 79.2 percent chance to prevail in this juicy encounter, per ESPN’s Basketball Power Index. I believe that Baylor’s significant advantage in the maturity of its roster will prove a major factor in the Bears conquering Washington, albeit in a close contest.

Prediction: Baylor 75 – Washington 68