College Basketball Power 10: Watch Out For Baylor Bears

2. Baylor (8-0)

If Baylor’s 15-point win over a top-10 ranked Xavier squad doesn’t have you believing in them, then I don’t know what will. Once again needing to overcome a halftime deficit, this time only three points, Baylor outscored Xavier by 18 in the second half to win 76-61.

Johnathan Motley is their star, but the Bears go nine deep every game.

Nine players average double-digit minutes per game and all but Motley have played in all eight games this season. It’s a big reason why they’re unstoppable in the second half, since they seemingly never get tired or out-hustled at any point in the game.

Xavier marks the fourth ranked opponent Baylor has beaten this season and that doesn’t include a very good VCU team that is currently 6-2. Simply put, if Baylor was 3-5 or 4-4 right now it wouldn’t be a shock, but instead they’re 8-0 with the most impressive resume in the nation.

Unlike a lot of the top teams in the nation, Baylor prides itself on its defense and hustle. As previously mentioned, they have the depth to constantly have fresh legs and good defenders on the floor. Its helped them allow a mere 59 points per game this season — ninth in the nation.

If a team can crack their defense and force them into a shootout then Baylor might have problems, but so far no team has been able to figure out how to score against them.

Besides, outscoring ranked opponents in the second half by an average of 15.3 points will get the job done more often than not.

The question is how long Baylor will keep this improbable run of dominance. It will last another week, as the Bears are off the entire week.