By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
Baylor isn’t exactly approaching the NCAA tournament riding a tail wind. The Bears fell to Iowa State, 78-72, in Thursday's Big 12 tournament. The Bears now sit with a record of 22-10.
They have also lost four of their last six. However, when it comes to Bracketology and more importantly on Sunday, the NCAA tournament selection committee, the body of work for the season likely will be taken into account above the finish.
While the Bears won’t be a No. 1 seed, their projections for The Dance likely won’t be impacted too much.
In the latest Bracketology, Baylor is considered a No. 2 seed by ESPN, while CBS pencils the Bears in as a No. 3 seed. FOX Sports lines up with ESPN and has the Bears listed as a No. 2 seed.
A recent NCAA tournament plan was devised in recent years to allow the higher seeds to play closer to their locations in the first two rounds. Baylor benefitted from that in 2022 when ti played at Dickie’s Arena in Fort Worth.
But the first two rounds are in locations where the Bears aren’t that close. They could go anywhere from Denver to Orlando to Des Moines.
While Baylor’s record doesn’t look all shiny and pretty, consider that parity has become such a part of the college game. At the beginning of this week, the nine programs ranked ahead of them in the AP Top 25 combined for 47 losses, that’s more than five per team. There are nine other ranked programs with eight more losses including four with double digit losses.
What favors Baylor is that each of its 10 losses are to NCAA tournament bound teams – (Iowa State, 3; Kansas State, 2, Kansas, Texas, TCU, Marquette and Virginia). They also have the second most quad one wins in the country behind Kansas with 11. That includes wins of two potential No. 1 seeds Kansas and UCLA. Plus, they play in the best conference in the county in the Big 12.
Of course, Baylor’s flaws in the post are a problem. And recent rebounding issues against the Cyclones surfaced.
Baylor head coach Scott Drew mentioned in Thursday's postgame presser that there would be a return to some fundamentals in that department once the Bears are back in Waco and preparing for next week.
But this team is dangerous when it’s in transition and shooting the 3-ball well.
The NCAA tournament summons a different mentality. It’s called urgency. Every game can be its last. March Madness is also about matchups.
It’s not the finish to the regular season and conference tournament season this program wanted. However, the season isn’t finished either.
Publisher
Baylor isn’t exactly approaching the NCAA tournament riding a tail wind. The Bears fell to Iowa State, 78-72, in Thursday's Big 12 tournament. The Bears now sit with a record of 22-10.
They have also lost four of their last six. However, when it comes to Bracketology and more importantly on Sunday, the NCAA tournament selection committee, the body of work for the season likely will be taken into account above the finish.
While the Bears won’t be a No. 1 seed, their projections for The Dance likely won’t be impacted too much.
In the latest Bracketology, Baylor is considered a No. 2 seed by ESPN, while CBS pencils the Bears in as a No. 3 seed. FOX Sports lines up with ESPN and has the Bears listed as a No. 2 seed.
A recent NCAA tournament plan was devised in recent years to allow the higher seeds to play closer to their locations in the first two rounds. Baylor benefitted from that in 2022 when ti played at Dickie’s Arena in Fort Worth.
But the first two rounds are in locations where the Bears aren’t that close. They could go anywhere from Denver to Orlando to Des Moines.
While Baylor’s record doesn’t look all shiny and pretty, consider that parity has become such a part of the college game. At the beginning of this week, the nine programs ranked ahead of them in the AP Top 25 combined for 47 losses, that’s more than five per team. There are nine other ranked programs with eight more losses including four with double digit losses.
What favors Baylor is that each of its 10 losses are to NCAA tournament bound teams – (Iowa State, 3; Kansas State, 2, Kansas, Texas, TCU, Marquette and Virginia). They also have the second most quad one wins in the country behind Kansas with 11. That includes wins of two potential No. 1 seeds Kansas and UCLA. Plus, they play in the best conference in the county in the Big 12.
Of course, Baylor’s flaws in the post are a problem. And recent rebounding issues against the Cyclones surfaced.
Baylor head coach Scott Drew mentioned in Thursday's postgame presser that there would be a return to some fundamentals in that department once the Bears are back in Waco and preparing for next week.
But this team is dangerous when it’s in transition and shooting the 3-ball well.
The NCAA tournament summons a different mentality. It’s called urgency. Every game can be its last. March Madness is also about matchups.
It’s not the finish to the regular season and conference tournament season this program wanted. However, the season isn’t finished either.
