NCAA Basketball: Ranking the 10 matchups in 2020-21 Big 12/Big East Challenge
3. Baylor at Seton Hall
After a historically good season for the program, the Bears best players are testing the NBA Draft waters. Both Jared Butler and MaCio Teague are looking at their options and could very well leave. But even if one of them decides to leave, Baylor still has quality depth, including leading passer Davion Mitchell, sit-out transfer Adam Flagler (15.9 ppg as a freshman at Presbyterian) and incoming four-star point guard LJ Cryer.
The frontcourt is also in good shape, even without All-Big 12 forward Freddie Gillespie. Mark Vital and Tristan Clark are coming back, while UNLV transfer Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua is eligible to play next year. And top-60 center prospect Dain Dainja is joining the team as well. If both Butler and Teague return, this will be a top-5 preseason team next season.
Seton Hall won’t be in the top-10 preseason without All-American scorer Myles Powell around, but they were able to land another star guard in Bryce Aiken, who averaged over 20 ppg at Harvard in his last full season. The underrated losses of both Quincy McKnight and big man Romaro Gill will hurt for sure but Sandro Mamukelashvili and Ike Obiagu will be a solid enough frontcourt pairing.
The frontcourt will rely on not only Aiken but also Jared Rhoden, Myles Cale and x-factor Takal Molson, who sat out last year after averaging 16.9 ppg at Canisius. If he can be a consistent double-digit scorer next season, the Pirates can have another top-3 finish in the Big East in 2021.
Baylor is going to be one of the best teams in the country again next season but playing at the Prudential Center will be a tough task to win. It’ll be close but I like Kevin Willard’s squad to get a big win over the Bears.