Baylor Bears…. Contenders or Pretenders
The Baylor Bears are about as impressive of a team this year as maybe a Syracuse or Duke has been. They win the close games and blow teams out when they should. We can’t say the same for North Carolina, seeing as though they lost to a Florida State team they should have beaten. Nonetheless the Tar Heels are good.
Of the top ten teams in the rankings so far, some of the teams are expected to be there. Murray state pulls in at number 10, which can be the exception. Also added to that list is Baylor. Much credit should be given to their hot start but……can they keep it going?
Last season they had a decent start then ended up losing 10 of their last 16 games. They won the games they were supposed to win in the beginning then, as they started facing ranked opponents, they went into an off and on slump.
Heading into the game against #7 Kansas, they then have five days rest until #5 Missouri. They also face the same two teams again back to back on February 11th and the 13th.
Their schedule started out the same as last year, playing teams like Jackson State and Texas Arlington and winning comfortably. To give credit where it is due, they played San Diego State and won as well as getting a win at Kansas State and #14 Mississippi State. Those are quality wins but they have a fairly easy schedule this year with Kansas and Missouri being the only ranked teams they face until the end of the year with a few tough games, but none ranked, in between.
Does this in any way make the Baylor run so far not legitimate? Absolutely not, in sports wins are wins, no matter how you get it done.
How do they fare against Kansas? On paper Baylor wins the battle, not by much but they are statistically a better team than Kansas this year. It will most certainly be a test for the Bears as to whether they are a legitimate top team especially winning this game and then taking on another ranked team in another five days. Winning both will show they can be a decent tournament team.
They will definitely have to slow down junior forward Thomas Robinson who is averaging double figures in points and rebounds. It will be tough for them to control the Jayhawks in the paint when Baylor's team leader in rebounds is only averaging 7.7 a game. However, an area in which the Bears have exceled is field goal percentage where they shoot .490 from the field.
As long as they can keep the scoring up and make good shots, they should be able to control the Jayhawks in defensive rebounding, which can make all the difference in the game.
