Busting Brackets
Fansided

Big 12 Basketball: What is the ceiling for each program for 2018-19?

By Chris Kern

OMAHA, NE - MARCH 25: Devonte' Graham #4 of the Kansas Jayhawks hoists the regional championship trophy after his team defeated the Duke Blue Devils in the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Midwest Regional at CenturyLink Center on March 25, 2018 in Omaha, Nebraska. The Kansas Jayhawks defeated the Duke Blue Devils 85-81. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
OMAHA, NE - MARCH 25: Devonte' Graham #4 of the Kansas Jayhawks hoists the regional championship trophy after his team defeated the Duke Blue Devils in the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Midwest Regional at CenturyLink Center on March 25, 2018 in Omaha, Nebraska. The Kansas Jayhawks defeated the Duke Blue Devils 85-81. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 11
Next
AUSTIN, TX – MARCH 4: King McClure #22 of the Baylor Bears drives around Andrew Jones #1 of the Texas Longhorns at the Frank Erwin Center on March 4, 2017 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Chris Covatta/Getty Images)
AUSTIN, TX – MARCH 4: King McClure #22 of the Baylor Bears drives around Andrew Jones #1 of the Texas Longhorns at the Frank Erwin Center on March 4, 2017 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Chris Covatta/Getty Images) /

Baylor Bears

The Baylor Bears are coming off a season in which they were one of the first four teams left out of the NCAA tournament. They got some big wins in conference play but it just wasn’t quite enough.

They lost their four leading scorers to graduation. On top of that guard, Jake Lindsay who was set to be one of the senior leaders of this team is out for the season due to a hip injury.

He doesn’t put up huge numbers but he is a good contributor on both sides of the ball. He was expected to be a starter on this team.

When you hear everything they lost it seems very unlikely that this team could be better than they were last season. This team has the talent and the coach to make it happen though.

Senior guard King McClure is going to be asked to play a huge role on this team. He averaged 8.1 points per game but did shoot just 39% from the field, he’ll need to see that percentage increase for his senior season.

He will be joined by graduate transfer Makai Mason. Mason has been dealing with injuries the past two seasons so it’s hard to rely on him to be the star he once showed he can be.

In the 2016 NCAA tournament, he actually led the 12th seeded Yale Bulldogs to an upset over the 5th seeded Baylor Bears. They also put up a very tough fight against 4th seeded Duke in the next round.

The Bears also have other key returning players in Mark Vital and Tristan Clark. Both those guys have a chance to start.

A couple freshman have a chance to earn big minutes for this team. Guard Jared Butler and forward Matthew Mayer both have a shot to be key players for this Baylor squad.

This team has the pieces to compete for an NCAA tournament berth. With so many new pieces it’s hard to say they will for sure make it.

If Makai Mason returns to the way he played at Yale and some of the other guys step up this will be an NCAA tournament team. At best they probably are an eight or nine seed that wins a game but I don’t think they’re capable of any sort of deep run.

Home/Big 12