Category: Baylor Bears

Houston beats Baylor on the road, are they the No. 1 team in college basketball?

The Houston Cougars picked up a massive win over the Baylor Bears in overtime, and have an argument as the top team in college basketball.

The Houston Cougars earned an incredibly hard fought victory on Saturday afternoon, defeating the Baylor Bears on the road in overtime by a score of 82-76.

Houston had a 16 point halftime lead but Baylor erased it with a strong second half, tying the game with 4.4 seconds left on an and-1 bucket from Yves Missi. Missi missed the free throw and Jamal Shead hit what looked like a game winning three pointer, but replay showed he just missed getting it off. Blowing a 17 point lead and going into overtime on the road against a team with momentum is a monumental task, but Kelvin Sampson and the Coogs calmly took care of business in the extra frame.

Houston is No. 2 in the country according to the AP Poll, and with UConn going down on the road to No. 15 Creighton earlier this week, this win could move Houston into the No. 1 spot.

The Coogs are 24-3 on the season, the same record as both Purdue and UConn, and being in first place in the toughest conference in college basketball is certainly a strong argument for the top spot.

Regardless of who is No. 1, Houston has the inside track on a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, and the way they are playing lately they are a great bet to be back in the Final 4 this April.

Tyrese Hunter seals victory for Texas over No. 9 Baylor

Texas-sized heroics from Tyrese Hunter in the matchup against Baylor.

It has been a rough start to Big 12 play for the Texas Longhorns men’s basketball season with losses in three of the first four games. They dropped two at home to the Texas Tech Red Raiders and Central Florida Knights. Those losses also sandwiched a road loss against the West Virginia Mountaineers.

On Saturday afternoon at the Moody Center, Texas had the opportunity to start to gain some momentum but it wouldn’t be easy against the annual Big 12 power, No. 9 Baylor Bears. It is the first of six straight games against top-25 opponents.

It was a close game throughout the afternoon with a 42-41 lead for the Horns over the Bears at halftime. The Bears led by Ja’Kobe Walter never could put much distance between them and Texas. The biggest lead of the second half for Baylor was a mere six points.

Max Abmas was able to put the Longhorns up 73-70 with under 15 seconds left in the game before Jalen Bridges nailed a three-point shot to tie it all up at 73. It looked like this game was heading to overtime before Tyrese Hunter, raced down the floor to put this game away.

The victory gave Texas their second win in Big 12 play in five chances. They also knocked off Cincinnati on the road in a one-point victory. Hunter led the Longhorns with 21 points on the day.

Baylor adds another 5-star guard as Scott Drew keeps reloading

The Baylor Bears have had three straight five-star guards come to Waco, and V.J. Edgecombe’s commitment should give them a fourth in 2024.

The Baylor Bears picked up a five-star guard prospect for the fourth straight year, with V.J. Edgecombe announcing his commitment to Scott Drew’s program on Sunday evening.

Edgecombe, a 6’5 senior in the class of 2024, picked Baylor over Duke and Kentucky and said he had a deep connection with the program and coach Drew.

“Baylor has a winning culture, a great staff and head coach. Coach Drew is a genuine person; he has built an incredible program,” he told ESPN. “There was a deep connection with Baylor. They have a strong foundation of faith, and there was also a spiritual connection. That was important to me.”

It doesn’t hurt that Baylor’s recent track record with high level guards is elite. Keyontae George was the No. 6 ranked player in 2022 and after one excellent year in Waco he was picked in the first round and is having a successful rookie campaign with the Utah Jazz.

Ja’Kobe Walter was the No. 8 ranked player in 2023 and he is currently performing like one of the best players in the entire country and could easily find himself selected in the top 10, if not top five, of the 2024 NBA draft.

Edgecombe could be the next great Baylor one-and-done guard. His 6’5 frame makes him a powerful athlete and an elite finisher around the rim. He’s improved as an outside shooter and as a playmaker, and there is little doubt Drew’s system will be a great fit for the Long Island native.

Edgecombe joins Jason Asemota and Robert Wright III in Baylor’s 2024 recruiting class, which is now ranked No. 5 in the country at 247Sports.

After demolishing Baylor, does Tom Izzo have Michigan State back in business?

Tom Izzo and Michigan State blasted Baylor on Saturday, is this the turning point of the college basketball season for the Spartans?

On Saturday the Michigan State Spartans and Baylor Bears met at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit for a non-conference battle.

Coming into the game Baylor was undefeated at 9-0 and No. 6 in the Coaches poll, while Michigan State was 4-5 and had not received a single vote in the latest poll, despite being ranked No. 4 in the preseason.

You’d be forgiven for thinking those roles were reversed after the Spartans jumped out to a 45-17 halftime lead and coasted to an easy 88-64 win, securing their biggest margin of victory over a top 10 ranked opponent in program history.

“It was a step in the right direction,” coach Tom Izzo said after the game. “It shows you what we can be against a very, very good team.”

Spartans guard Tyson Walker finished with 25 points including 18 in the first half – literally outscoring the No.4 ranked offense in the entire country (per KenPom) by himself.

Is this the marquee win Izzo and the Spartans need to get their act together and become that top-five caliber team they were billed as in the preseason?

“We aren’t giving up on ourselves,” Izzo said. “We’re not dead yet.”

If this is the turnaround point for Michigan State, it likely means this team will be much better at shooting the deep ball going forward – an area they massively struggled to begin the campaign but went 8-12 (66.7%) on Saturday.

The Spartans host Oakland on Monday evening, followed by Stony Brook on December 21 and Indiana State to close out the year on December 30.

A trio of relatively easy non-conference games could keep the momentum going for Michigan State heading into Big Ten play, where they remain a strong contender to finish in the top five even after dropping their first two league games to Wisconsin and Nebraska.

Report: Baylor set to hire Jake Spavital as the next OC

Spavital returns to the Big 12 as offensive coordinator with Baylor.

Former Texas State head coach Jake Spavital is reportedly heading to Waco to join the Baylor staff as the next offensive coordinator per David Smoak. Spavital was most recently the offensive coordinator with California after being fired from Texas State after a four-year stint as the head coach.

Spavital has spent time as the play-caller at Texas A&M from 2013 to 2015, California in 2016 and 2023, and West Virginia in 2017 and 2018. The Baylor Bears needed to make changes to the staff after another poor performance from the team in 2023. Dave Aranda is among the coaches feeling the heat heading into next season.

This past season Baylor was ranked worst in the conference in scoring offense where they averaged just 23.1 points per game. The Bears also ranked No. 11 in the Big 12 in total offense, 377.8 yards per game.

Recently quarterback Blake Shapen opted to transfer leaving the Bears with former Mississippi State passer Sawyer Robertson as their likely starter next season, unless they raid the portal. The Bears will need a boost on the recruiting trail where they rank No. 11 in the new-look Big 12. Only BYU, Colorado, Utah, Kansas State, and Houston have worse classes according to 247Sports.

In 2023, Spavital’s offense ranked No. 7 in scoring offense (31.6 points per game) and No. 8 in total offense (395.7 yards per game) in the Pac-12. The Golden Bears finished the final year in the Pac-12 at 6-6. They will play in a bowl game before gearing up for the ACC in 2024. They are joining Stanford and SMU in the new-look Atlantic Coast Conference.

More changes are likely to be expected for Baylor as they try to recapture the magic from the 2021 season, where they won the Big 12. The team has finished 9-16 and 6-12 in conference play over the last two seasons. Overall, Dave Aranda is 23-25 as a head coach of the Bears.

Baylor quarterback Blake Shapen to enter transfer portal

The Bears quarterback started 23 games for Baylor, and he threw for 36 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in his time with the team.

Baylor quarterback Blake Shapen will enter the transfer portal, according to a Monday report from ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

The junior started 23 games for the Bears. Thamel said his intention is to find a starting job with a winning program.

In his three seasons with the Bears, Shapen has thrown 36 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. In his lone 13-game season in 2022, he threw for 18 touchdowns, completed 63.3% of his passes, and averaged 7.6 yards per attempt despite 10 interceptions on the year.

He played eight games in 2023, throwing for 13 touchdowns against just three interceptions. He threw for four touchdowns in a loss to Kansas State on November 11th, and he threw for 300 yards in three of his first four games. His 46.6 QBR ranks 96th in the nation.

Shapen was a three-star prospect and 247Sports’ 36th-ranked pro-style quarterback in the class of 2020.

Best nonconference matchups of the 2023 college football season

The best 20 nonconference games of the 2023 season.

We are under 100 days to the college football season but who is counting anyway? Well, just about everyone is. Teams are gearing up to make a run at the College Football Playoffs and end Georgia’s run of dominance. The Bulldogs are 29-1 over the last two seasons where they won the title in both.

Can anyone step up and prevent them from joining the Minnesota Golden Gophers in college football immortality? Minnesota won three straight titles in the early to mid-1930s. A feat that has seems impossible to repeat, until now. Almost a century later, we could be witnessing history.

Before we get to the CFP, there is plenty more that needs to be addressed. Teams have fall camps, nonconference games, and the run to their respective conference championship games.

In their 100 storylines to follow, CBS Sports ranked the best 20 nonconference matchups of the 2023 college football season. Plenty of eyes will be on the likes of Alabama, Colorado, Texas, and Texas A&M, but who else should we be paying attention to ahead of conference play?

One notable matchup missing is the opening game of the season in Dublin, Ireland, where Notre Dame and Navy are set to meet on the gridiron. That game was among our must-see games in each week of the 2023 college football season.

Check out the list from CBS Sports: