Ranking the Big 12 – #5 Baylor Bears

Throughout the summer, HornSports’ Chris Flanagan will countdown the college football season by projecting his season-ending records among Big 12 teams. At number five, we head up I-35 and check in on the Baylor Bears.

#10 – Kansas Jayhawks

#9 – Iowa State Cyclones

#8 – West Virginia Mountaineers

#7 – Texas Tech Red Raiders

#6 – Texas Longhorns

Why not Higher?

There is an argument to be made that the Baylor Bears will be as formidable a team as they were last season under Art Briles. Let’s not forget that interim head coach Jim Grobe is just that – an interim coach. He’s the stand-in guy so the assistant coaches can do their jobs one last season in Waco until a suitable replacement for Briles can be found.

Seth Russell, Shock Linwood and KD Cannon (a Junior) will be playing their final seasons in Waco. Those pieces alone with the same offensive coaches will make Baylor an explosive offensive team this year.

Why not Lower?

There is talent on the team, but eventually the scandal will take its toll on the Baylor program. Everyone agrees it will be in 2017 and beyond, but the real question for the team will be what the 2016 season holds. Will Jim Grobe let the assistant coaches do what they do best and lead the team to a Big 12 Championship? Or will his desire to be a head coach again lend itself to forcing decisions into a program he doesn’t truly understand? Time will tell, but the talent alone in Waco puts the Baylor Bears in the top half of the Big 12.

Bright Spots

Linwood, Russell and Cannon are the highlights of the team but Johnny Jefferson will be the most surprising asset the Bears possess. Jefferson rushed for 1,00 yards last season, including a 158-yard performance in the loss to Texas and a 229-yard night against North Carolina. Baylor already makes running the football a priority and with two great backs in Linwood and Jefferson, they will continue that tradition this season.

Season Prediction

All eyes will be on the Baylor program this season and most will be rooting for the Bears to lose. You can’t blame people for that. What Art Briles and Baylor University did to the young women of Baylor should be a wake-up call for all universities. A person’s bodily integrity should never take a back seat to winning football games. Baylor knows they are the villain and they will likely embrace it, even though they shouldn’t.

Despite villain status, the Bears have a relatively easy schedule. They play only one team that had a winning record last season (Oklahoma State) in their first 6 games. It’s not inconceivable that Baylor could be undefeated headed into the Texas game in Austin on October 29^th. After that, they play TCU at home and at Oklahoma. If they survive that stretch, they will be the favorite for the Big 12 Championship. If they falter, the season could go downhill fast with final games against Kansas State, Texas Tech (in Arlington, TX) and in Morgantown against West Virginia.

Let’s reiterate again – Baylor has talent, but the exhaustion of an emotional offseason will take its toll. Expect the Bears to go to a decent bowl game, but it will be their last for quite some time.

Final 2016 record prediction: 8-4 (5-4 Big 12)