Baylor Basketball: 2018-19 season preview for the Bears
By Chris Kern
Non-Conference Breakdown
The Baylor Bears non-conference schedule is relatively weak with only a couple of games that could be resume building wins. The Big 12 gives them plenty of chances to beat tough opponents. Winning a couple of these tough games out of conference will go a long ways towards their NCAA tournament hopes.
Emerald Coast Classic
The Bears open this four-team tournament against an Ole Miss team that is expected to struggle. First-year coach Kermit Davis doesn’t have a lot of talent to work with which should lead to Baylor getting a win over a power five opponent.
A win over Ole Miss would set up a matchup with George Mason or Cincinnati. You would expect the Bearcats to win that game to set up a Baylor vs Cincinnati matchup in the final. Both teams lost a lot of talent from last season. Jarron Cumberland will be asked to lead a heavy load for the Bearcats.
This potential matchup would occur early on in the season on Nov. 24th. They both could use a win like this to put on their resume early in the season.
Wichita State
The Baylor Bears travel to Wichita to take on the Shocker on Dec 1st. These teams played in Waco last season and the Shockers won that game 69-62.
This Wichita State team isn’t going to be quite as good as the past few teams they’ve had. They have a lot of new faces but Markis Mcduffie and Samajae Haynes-Jones provide this team with a couple leaders they can trust.
Going on the road and winning a game in Wichita is always impressive though. The Shockers should be an NCAA tournament contender at seasons end. This would be a good road win for a Baylor team that will be trying to gel before conference play.
Arizona
This game at Arizona is going to be very winnable for Baylor. The Wildcats lost the majority of there guys from last season as well as missed out on some recruits due to the Sean Miller situation.
Guys like Emmanuel Akot, Brandon Randolph, and Chase Jeter will be asked to carry the load for this team. None of these guys have done this at the division one level so it’ll be interesting to see how they perform.
In mid-December, Arizona will still be going through some growing pains. It’s a chance to beat an Arizona team while they’re still figuring things out. Road wins mean so much for your NCAA tournament hopes. Baylor needs to find a way to get this win in Tuscon.
Oregon
The Oregon Ducks will probably be the best team Baylor will face during their non-conference portion of their schedule. They bring back a few of their key guys from last season including star point guard Payton Pritchard.
The addition of freshman big man Bol Bol will be big for this team. He is very skilled and is gonna have a big impact on this Oregon squad.
The Bears don’t have a ton of height inside so they’ll need to do a good job of containing Bol to win this game. A win over a top 25 Oregon team before heading into conference play can go a long way for their tournament hopes.
Alabama
The Baylor Bears and Alabama Crimson Tide will face off in late January during the Big 12/SEC challenge. A chance for both teams to add to their resume with another out of conference win.
Alabam lost their star point guard but they bring back a lot of talent. Dazon Ingram, John Petty, and Donta Hall were all core guys on last seasons team.
This is a chance for Baylor to get a tough win at home in late January. In the midst of a tough conference schedule, this will be a good break for both teams.