The Bears hope it's just a tune-up before taking on the Big 12's bigger fish when 12th-ranked Baylor hosts the West Virginia Mountaineers on Thursday night. The Bears are 5-1 against the spread in their last six games after accumulating more than 450 total yards in their previous game. They had an eye-popping 536 in a 45-27 victory against Oklahoma State before their bye week to move to 7-0, with Texas and Oklahoma coming up in the next few weeks. West Virginia had a week to recover after a 52-14 loss to the Sooners, but still have key defensive players out with injuries. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. ET in Waco. The Bears are 18.5-point favorites in the latest West Virginia vs. Baylor odds, up one from where the spread opened, while the over-under for total points scored is 57. Before committing to any Baylor vs. West Virginia picks, be sure to see the college football predictions from SportsLine's Mike Tierney.

The veteran sportswriter, whose work has appeared in The New York Times and Los Angeles Times, has covered college football at all levels for decades. He has emerged as one of SportsLine's leading analysts in all sports.

What's more, he has had a particularly keen sense for the tendencies of these programs. Tierney is 4-0 in his last four against the spread picks involving the Mountaineers and 18-9 on his last 27 college football picks overall. Anyone who has followed him is way up.

Now, he has studied West Virginia vs. Baylor from every angle and released another confident against the spread pick that is only available at SportsLine.

Tierney knows quarterback Charlie Brewer leads a Bears offense that is 12th in the nation in scoring at 38.9 points per game. He has big-time receivers in Denzel Mims (519 yards, five TDs) and Tyquan Thornton (507-3), while R.J. Sneed is a valuable possession receiver with 25 catches for 296 yards and two scores. John Lovett and JaMycal Hasty have combined for 808 rushing yards and eight touchdowns and both average at least 6.5 yards per carry. 

Baylor makes plenty of plays on defense and special teams, forcing 13 turnovers and blocking four kicks. Linebacker Clay Johnston is 20th in the nation with 58 tackles and has 2.5 sacks, five passes defended and an interception. Defensive tackle James Lynch is a wrecking ball, with 8.5 sacks and a blocked kick. Grayland Arnold is seventh in the nation in punt return average at 14.4 yards per attempt and has taken one back to the house.

But just because the Bears make big plays on both sides of the ball doesn't mean they will cover the Baylor vs. West Virginia spread on Thursday night.

West Virginia's top linebacker, Josh Chandler, is out with a knee injury, but there is plenty of talent in the secondary to step up. Cornerback Josh Norwood leads the team with 52 tackles and six passes defended, and safety Sean Mahone has 33 tackles. Freshman safety Tykee Smith has three passes defended and one interception, which he took back 19 yards for a touchdown. Keith Washington has three interceptions despite missing the past two games, but is expected to return this week.  

Offensively, quarterback Austin Kendall is completing 63.5 percent of his passes and has thrown for 1,429 yards and 11 touchdowns. Kendall relies heavily on receivers T.J. Simmons and Sam James, who have combined for 72 catches, 797 yards and six scores.

We can tell you Tierney is leaning over, and he's also identified a critical x-factor that has him all over one side of the spread. He's only sharing what it is, and who to back, at SportsLine.

Who wins West Virginia vs. Baylor? And what critical x-factor makes one side of the spread a must-back? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of the West Virginia vs. Baylor spread you should jump on Thursday, all from the seasoned expert who is 18-9 on college football picks, and find out.