2014
Baylor Bears
College Football
Betting Preview
Schedule
How bout these Baylor Bears? Many thought their 10-3 season in 2011 was all the work of RG3 and that once he departed, Baylor would take their place in the bottom of the Big 12 standings where they belong. But the success of the Baylor football team isn’t the work of one or two players, but rather the offensive system of head coach Art Briles. As good as RG3 was, it was the system that made this team successful and continues to do so. Plug the right players into the system, and the winning ways will continue.
Baylor hadn’t had a winning season since 1995 prior to the arrival of Briles in 2008. Briles went 4-8 in his first two seasons but has since put his stamp on this program. They’ve been to 4 straight Bowl Games and are coming off their best year yet under Briles. They were 11-2 last season and ranked as high as 3rd in the nation. They had missed the post season 16 long years prior to the arrival of Briles!
At first glance it could appear as though Baylor might be in trouble this year. They return just 9 starters which places them dead last in the Big 12. However, it’s important to note that all of the players who will lace it up this year are players Briles recruited to play in his system. It’s not a team he inherited. This is all Briles and these players are hand picked and tailor made for his schemes. again, with this team, it’s the system that’s successful and they do return QB Bryce Petty and WR Antwan Goodley.
They also lost several key defensive players, but, does it really matter? This isn’t a team that’s going to be a defensive monster. Defense is an after thought here. This team wins Games by piling on points and pile on they did in 2013. They scored 70+ points 4 times last year and in fact were only held to under 41 points 3 times, two of those in winning efforts, 35-25 over Kansas State and 30-10 over Texas. Bottom line is, when you put up those kind of offensive numbers, you’re going to win your share of football Games. (Baylor had the #1 offense in the nation a year ago)
Looking at their 2014 Schedule, you should be able to pencil in 7 or 8 wins. How well Baylor does this year, will come down to the heart of their Big 12 Schedule and Games against Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Kansas State. In fact, we’ll have a good idea of what’s to come when October 4th rolls around and Baylor heads to Texas to take on the Longhorns. Texas will be looking to avenge their 30-10 loss from a year ago and from that point forward, it’s all Big 12 opponents for Baylor. In their favor is that 4 of their final 5 Games are at home.
2014 Baylor Football Schedule
Aug. 30 – SMU
Sep. 6 – Northwestern State
Sep. 13 – at Buffalo
Sep. 27 – at Iowa State
Oct. 4 – at Texas
Oct. 11 – TCU
Oct. 18 – at West Virginia
Nov. 1 – Kansas
Nov. 8 – at Oklahoma
Nov. 22 – Oklahoma State
Nov. 29 – vs. Texas Tech @Arlington, TX
Dec. 6 – Kansas State