No. 9 Baylor will put its unbeaten run and its place near the top of the Big 12 on the line Friday night when Kansas comes to Betty Lou Mays Field for a 7 p.m. CT matchup to finish out the Bears’ three-game homestand.
The setting will have a little extra energy around it. Baylor’s annual Gold Rush promotion is part of the night, with fans encouraged to wear their best University Gold, and the school’s Vamos Osos Hispanic Heritage Celebration will also be featured.
Free gold Vamos Osos shirts will be handed out while supplies last. Admission to all regular-season matches at Betty Lou Mays Field remains free.
On the field, the stakes are clear enough. Baylor and Kansas are tied for second in the Big 12, with both teams sitting on seven points and matching 2-0-1 conference records. Texas Tech and BYU are also on seven points, while Houston has opened league play with three straight wins over Kansas State, Iowa State and Oklahoma State.
This is another top-10 moment for the Bears, who are carrying their second top-10 ranking of the season into Friday’s match. Baylor climbed as high as No. 6 in the second week of the poll, a program-best mark, and this is the third top-10 ranking of the Michelle Lenard era.
Kansas is making its first trip back to Waco since 2022, and the recent results in this matchup have tilted Baylor’s way. The Bears haven’t lost to the Jayhawks in three straight meetings, winning 3-2 in 2022, playing to a 0-0 draw in 2023 and then taking a 3-0 win last season in Lawrence. Baylor also owns a narrow 14-13-3 edge in the all-time series.
The Jayhawks arrive at 8-2-1 and with a handful of dangerous attackers leading the way. Caroline Castans has five goals and two assists, Jillian Gregorski has six goals, and Livvy Moore has piled up nine assists. In goal, Sophie Dawe has started all 11 matches and played all but 1:09, posting 21 saves, a 0.55 goals-against average and six shutouts.
Kansas opened Big 12 play with a 1-1 draw at Cincinnati, then followed with back-to-back 2-0 victories over Arizona State and Arizona at Rock Chalk Park. The Jayhawks’ only loss of the season came against then-No. 19 Ohio State, their lone ranked opponent so far.
Baylor brings plenty of momentum of its own into the matchup. The Bears are 9-1-1 in 2026, riding an eight-game unbeaten streak and a five-game conference regular-season winning streak that stretches back to last year.
Lauren Omholt leads Baylor with 12 points on five goals and two assists, while Aryanna Jimison is right behind her with 11 points on four goals and three assists. In goal, Azul Alvarez has played every minute this season, logging all 990 and making 35 saves with a 1.00 goals-against average. Alvarez was also recently named to the Hermann Trophy Midseason Watch List.
After Friday, Baylor goes back on the road next Thursday to face Colorado, which is the Big 12’s second-highest-ranked team in the NCAA RPI at No. 10, behind Baylor at No. 7.
The Bears then return home for a Blackout on the Brazos matchup against TCU on Friday, Oct. 16.
In Other News...
Jerome Tang's Kansas State Split Just Got More Interesting For Baylor
Jerome Tangs return to Baylor has already added a familiar face to the Bears bench, but the financial aftermath from his exit at Kansas State is still unfolding in the background. Tang, now serving as Baylors associate head coach, was fired by the Wildcats in February after a difficult season start and a postgame rant Kansas State used to justify ending the relationship for cause, a move that also changed the value of his buyout.
Now the former Kansas State coach and the school are nearing a settlement worth roughly $12 million, with the figure reflecting adjustments tied to his new job. For Baylor, it is one more wrinkle in a split that has already crossed from the coaching carousel into the legal and financial side of the sport, and a reminder that Tangs Big 12 story is still very much being written. [Read more 🡒]
Baylor XC Gets An Unexpected Test After Travel Plans Fall Apart
Baylors mens and womens cross country teams got an unexpected detour this week when a flight cancellation forced a change in plans, sending them to Fayetteville, Arkansas, instead of their original destination in Terre Haute, Indiana. The Bears now head into the 38th annual Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival, where the men will run 8K and the women will tackle 5K against a field that includes several regional programs.
For Baylor, the meet brings a chance to keep building momentum with a full mens lineup for the second time this season and several key runners set to appear. It also drops the Bears into a different kind of test on short notice, with the season set to keep rolling soon in College Station and Stillwater. [Read more 🡒]
Baylor Heads To Tempe With Familiar Problems Ready To Define This Game
Late-night road trips tend to expose the same flaws over and over, and Baylor heads to Tempe with several of the same questions hanging over this matchup. The Bears have a chance to settle in against Arizona State under the lights, but the game figures to turn quickly on whether Baylors defense can handle quarterback Cutter Boley and whether the offense can avoid the kind of uneven stretches that have made this season so frustrating.
Baylor also needs clarity around DJ Lagways health and impact, because the offense looks different when he is available and effective. The receiving corps has to do more than flash in spurts, the running game needs better efficiency, and special teams could wind up carrying real weight in a game where third down conversions may decide who gets to control the night. [Read more 🡒]