The Baylor Bears are off to another great start as through six games they are a perfect 6-0, blowing teams out in four of those six games. They have a Big 12 conference leading plus 56 point differential and looked primed to win another conference championship. However, all that glitter may not be gold. As, the Bears’ schedule becomes insanely difficult down the stretch; something that sunk the 2015 Baylor squad from a spot in the playoffs and a Big 12 title.
Through three conference wins they have victories against Kansas, Iowa State and Oklahoma State. The win over Oklahoma State was their only against a team with a winning record. The other two triumphs came at the expense of two schools with a combined record of 2-11 overall and 0-7 in the Big 12. And, the combined records of the schools they have their other five victories is 5-26.
The Bears know that their schedule goes from being a cupcake to as tough as a $2 steak, saying after their win last week over Kansas:
“We know that the lion’s share of our schedule lies in front of us, and the toughest part is the second half,” acting head coach Jim Grobe said. “Our guys realize that we’re happy to be 6-0 right now, but we know positively that we’re going to have to play great down the stretch.” (Yahoo Sports)
Grobe wasn’t there last season when the Bears dropped three of their last four games after starting the season 8-0. 2015 had a few of the same parallels to this year’s club as they had zero games against ranked opponents and a non conference scheduled that was one of the weakest in the sport.
Last year, much like this year, Baylor went up against their first ranked opponent when they hosted Oklahoma. They were dismissed by double digits losing 44-34. In three weeks, the Bears head to Norman where they should be facing a Sooners team that would have won their last six games.
The win propelled the Sooners to the top of the conference and put them on course to a spot in the semifinals. As Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops said after the contest,
“Go into their backyard on a night like tonight and play this way, you know, we’re one of those teams that has a chance,” Stoops said. “Again, you come into an undefeated team ranked that high, waiting on you, and win by 10. It’s got to be a positive.”(ESPN)
That loss sent them in to that tail spin that vaulted them out of the playoffs. With this game sitting on the calendar at the same time as last year it will be very interesting to see if last season’s ghosts come to haunt the Bears again.
