College Basketball Power 10: Duke Rises, North Carolina Falls
By Jeremy Karll
3. Baylor (8-0)
The Bears had last week off, but their impressive start to the season did not go away.
Baylor is not a normal powerhouse in college basketball, so it’s expected that people will brush them off. Even though they’ve made six of the past nine NCAA tournaments, Baylor has only topped 25 wins three times under Scott Drew, who took over in 2003-04 and is just more than a decade removed from winning four games.
History shouldn’t matter when looking at who the best team this year is, but it does influence how some think of this team.
Besides, they don’t own five-star recruits or have an electrifying offense. Even though Baylor only allows 59 points per game, which ranks eighth in the nation, it doesn’t scream excitement like highlight dunks and non-stop three-point shooting.
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That being said, there is no arguing about Baylor’s early season resume. The Bears have four wins over ranked teams and three came by at least 15 points.
According to ESPN, the Bears have the best RPI (.7347), second best Defensive Quotient (19.3), which is the difference between what a team allows and their opponents’ actual score, and fifth-toughest strength of schedule in the nation.
Whichever way you cut it, the Bears own one of the best defenses in the nation and have the most impressive resume in college basketball so far. Baylor will now play the easy part of their non-conference schedule, but that doesn’t negate what they did to start the season.
Baylor plays Southern, Jackson State and John Brown this week.