We’ve got another huge slate of college baseball conference tournaments as the race to the postseason really heats up.
Wednesday’s best bets went 2-0, pushing my streak to five in a row and 9-2 since April 15. On the season, we’re 27-14 on moneyline picks and up 13.4 units (13-3 siding with short moneyline favorites, +7.02u).
Here are my NCAA baseball predictions and college baseball picks for the SEC Tournament and Big 12 Tournament on Friday, May 22.
NCAA Baseball Predictions, Picks
The team logos in the table below represent each of the matchups that Action Network's Road to CFB is targeting from Friday's slate of games. Click on the team logos for any of the matchups below to navigate to a specific bet discussed in this article.
| Game | Time (ET) | Pick |
|---|---|---|
  | 4 p.m. | |
  | 7:30 p.m. | |
Specific betting recommendations come from the sportsbook offering preferred odds as of writing. | ||
Arkansas vs Texas Prediction
Arkansas has been a team I’ve sided with recently that’s climbing up power ratings. After handling Tennessee, the Razorbacks moved up three more spots in RPI (24th) and improved to 16-12 against Quad 1 teams and 4-1 at neutral sites.
Arkansas throws Hunter Dietz (7-3, 3.32 ERA) against Texas senior Cody Howard.
Howard has yet to log a decision this year and has given up eight earned runs in his last three outings in 8 1/3 innings of work. He probably won’t go more than three innings, but this type of start is puzzling for the SEC quarterfinals.
The Hogs jumped all over Tennessee starter Evan Blanco, plating four runs in the first inning and five total in Blanco’s four innings on the bump.
Sophomore Cole Gibler nabbed the win in relief work, but the bullpen didn’t exhaust its options in the win.
This is a pitching mismatch. If this game gets in today — Hoover is expected to see pretty consistent rain — Arkansas will be eyeing a semifinal match against Auburn or Texas A&M.
Pick: Arkansas ML +120
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Oklahoma State vs Kansas Prediction
This is a matchup between two high-octane offenses.
Oklahoma State’s 124 wRC+ sits just outside the top 10 nationally, while Kansas checks in with a mark of 114.
In the last 30 days, the Pokes have been held to five or fewer runs once — a 7-4 opening night loss to Arizona last weekend. But with high scoring comes high volatility.
Kansas took two out of three from Oklahoma State in Stillwater in April, and in two of those games, the winner scored 13 runs.
We’re getting the Jayhawks on a discount after they got swept by West Virginia in the penultimate regular season series and were taken to extras in a contentious game against Baylor to open Big 12 Tournament play.
Diamond Sports Ranking places the Jayhawks 13th and RPI, 20th. Kansas carries a 9-6 record against Quad 1 teams and a 3-0 neutral-site record, while Oklahoma State stands at 10-11 in Q1 games.
When it comes down to two high-powered offenses, I’ll side with the more dependable pitching staff. The Pokes struggled to find a third starter, and two of them threw last night (Hudson Barrett, Mario Pesca).
We’ll probably see Ethan Lund, Oklahoma State’s top starter, tonight, though we don’t have confirmed starters as of writing.
Lund held Arizona to just one earned run in his last start, but before that, he surrendered 13 runs in three starts (15 2/3 IP). In conference play, he gave up 37 earned runs in 43 1/3 innings.
I’ll take No. 1 seed Kansas in the upset to advance to the finals against Arizona State or West Virginia.
Pick: Kansas ML +114
