Scott Drew’s Baylor Bears lost the likes of Isaiah Austin, Cory Jefferson and Brady Heslip following last season’s run to the Sweet 16, which left a massive void in production that would need to be made up for elsewhere in 2014-15.
The Bears’ roster entered this season far less glamorous than it was while Austin was in town and the expectations for this season weren’t on the pedestal they had been in the past.
But with what has been a noticeably well-rounded effort across the board from Baylor’s roster with only one game left in non-conference play, the Bears have impressed and found themselves ranked 22nd in the nation.
But numbers, statistics and rankings this early in the season can be deceiving and the only way to really know if Baylor is a force to be reckoned with in the Big 12, and nationally is to watch as their put to the test as soon as conference play kicks off next week.
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To this point, Baylor has cruised through their non-conference schedule with the exception of a loss on a neutral court to a pretty solid Illinois club, leaving them with a 10-1 record with only Norfolk State left on the schedule before conference play.
It’s unquestionably an impressive record – Texas and Kansas have already lost two games each – but the quality of opponents Baylor has seen thus far is nothing to brag about. Baylor’s previous 11 opponents have a combined record of 64-61.
Of those 11, only six have a record above .500, which just goes to show that the Bears have yet to see a real challenge, with the exception of Illinois whom they lost to.
But that will be the complete opposite once conference play begins for Baylor on Jan. 3. The Bears will begin on the road with No. 19 Oklahoma, with No. 10 Kansas, No. 25 TCU and No. 12 Iowa State rounding out their first four conference games.
These will be the first ranked teams Baylor will have seen this season with at least three of the clubs having legitimate hopes of a Big 12 title. Additionally, you can compare these four teams total records of 36-6 to that of their non-conference opponents and see that the teams they are soon to see know how to win, a lot.
And just as you could expect, the Bears will see ranked teams in Texas and West Virginia twice this season, which would equal out to 12 of their 18 conference games being against ranked opponents if things stayed the way they are now.
So the cakewalk to conference play is about to end and Baylor is soon to see the true test of how good they really are, just as will be the case with TCU.
With the schedule that the Bears have in front of them, dropping a game or two of their first four conference meetings wouldn’t signify that Baylor is overrated, considering they’re facing some premier teams with some elite talent. Rather, how they compete in these games will speak volumes towards how serious of a threat this Baylor club is.
Nobody should expect Baylor to knock off Kansas and Iowa State, but the rest of the conference would take notice if coach Drew can, at least, remain competitive and keep the games close, if Baylor does even fall short.
But there is the chance that Baylor makes some serious noise in the conference, as they feature a decently-sized, physical and well-rounded roster with seven guys playing at least 19 minutes while averaging 6.5 points per game at minimum.
That could be credited to the lack of legitimate completion thus far, but the only way to truly know is to see how Baylor fares when they run into the beast that is the Big 12 Conference.
We’ll have our answer before too long, but my guess is that the battles Baylor will face night in and night out will make its impact evident as the Big 12 powers, such as Texas, Iowa State and Kansas, start to break out and lead the pack.