Baylor’s brief surge hit a wall Saturday night, and the fallout showed up immediately in the national rankings.
After a four-game winning streak and a 55-19 road blowout of Arizona State that had Baylor looking like a team on the rise, the Bears were stunned at home by TCU, 17-6. That loss not only snapped the run, it pushed Baylor down several spots across the national landscape.
The Bears now sit at 4-2 overall and 2-1 in Big 12 play, but they still haven’t broken into either major poll. Baylor remained out of the AP Top 25 and did not receive any votes in the latest ballot, a frustrating development after a stretch in which the Bears still hadn’t drawn AP attention despite their winning streak.
The Big 12, meanwhile, continues to crowd the rankings. Five league teams landed in the AP Top 25, topped by No.
2 BYU, No. 8 Texas Tech and No.
10 Utah. Houston moved up six places to No. 14, and Arizona entered at No.
- BYU, Texas Tech and Utah are still undefeated, while Oklahoma State fell out after its loss to Houston.
Baylor’s outlook in the US LBM Coaches Poll wasn’t any better. The Bears got no votes in the latest release after picking up nine the week before.
Four Big 12 teams made that poll’s top 25, with BYU at No. 3, Texas Tech at No. 5 and Utah at No.
- Houston rose two spots to No. 16, while Arizona collected 141 votes without cracking the rankings.
The Bears had started to gain traction with coaches after the Arizona State win, but the TCU loss wiped away that momentum in a hurry.
That same theme showed up in the computer and media-style rankings as well. Baylor dropped 12 spots to No. 51 in The Athletic’s latest national rankings, falling from No. 39 a week ago. The Bears had climbed eight spots over the previous two weeks, fueled in part by the Arizona State win, when quarterback DJ Lagway accounted for five touchdowns and the offense rolled up 564 total yards.
CBS Sports also moved Baylor backward, dropping the Bears 16 spots to No. 46 in its latest full FBS rankings. TCU climbed six places to No. 50 after the win in Waco, though Baylor still sits four spots ahead of the Horned Frogs despite the head-to-head result.
Now the Bears turn to Kansas on Saturday, where they’ll be trying to get the offense moving again and avoid back-to-back losses for the first time this season. Baylor still has chances to strengthen its résumé, with No.
2 BYU, No. 8 Texas Tech and No.
14 Houston still left on the schedule.
In Other News...
TCU Suddenly Has A Chance To Prove Baylor Was More Than A Blip
TCU has again started to look like the kind of team Sonny Dykes has talked about building in Fort Worth, one that finds another gear once the calendar turns deeper into league play. After a 3-3 start, the Horned Frogs have won two of their last three, and the win over Baylor fit the pattern of late-season traction they showed in each of the past two years. It is the sort of stretch that can make an early wobble feel less like a problem and more like a temporary detour.
The next chance to keep that momentum rolling comes against West Virginia, and the matchup offers TCU a clear opportunity to keep stacking evidence that Baylor was not a one-off. Before the BYU game, the team held a players-only meeting, and players say it helped unify and motivate the group. Now the Horned Frogs get a defense that has struggled badly in Big 12 play, giving them a chance to turn a promising run into something more convincing. [Read more 🡒]
Baylor Heads Into Tough Road Stretch With One Problem To Fix
After Baylors 17-6 loss to TCU, Dave Aranda spent part of his postgame attention on what comes next, and the answer is a tricky road test against Kansas. Aranda said the Jayhawks bring a versatile offense that can stress a defense in a number of ways, with both the run game and the quarterback element creating problems. For a Baylor team that has generally been stout against the run this season, the challenge is less about attitude than about matching that discipline over another tough stretch away from home.
The bigger concern may be on the other side of the ball, where Baylor has to find a way to get unstuck after an offense that sputtered against TCU. Aranda pointed to the teams issues in getting the ground game going and sustaining drives, and he made it clear that the offense needs to be sharper with consecutive road games looming. Against a Kansas defense that can make opponents earn everything, Baylor cannot afford another sluggish night if it wants to keep this trip from snowballing. [Read more 🡒]
TCU Faces A Familiar Threat As West Virginia Brings Serious Firepower
West Virginia brings a strange mix of danger and opportunity into its matchup with TCU, because the Mountaineers have found real production on offense while still leaving plenty of cracks for an opponent to attack. The biggest concern for the Horned Frogs may be the ground game, where West Virginia has leaned heavily on a back who once wore TCU colors and has become the centerpiece of the attack since moving on.
The quarterback play adds another layer to the challenge, with West Virginia getting strong results under center while its defense remains vulnerable in ways TCU will notice quickly. The Mountaineers have been beaten up in scoring defense and total yards allowed, so this feels like one of those games where the Frogs have to decide whether to chase the matchups obvious weakness or spend most of their attention trying to slow down the familiar threat coming back to haunt them. [Read more 🡒]