Big 12 Basketball: 2019-20 power rankings heading into conference play

Baylor remains the biggest threat to the perennial favorite Kansas Jayhawks as they wrap up an impressive non-conference slate. The Bears picked up key wins against Villanova, Arizona, and Butler, all of whom look to be high-quality teams. Their one loss was on the road against Washington where the Bears shot the ball very poorly. That performance looks like the outlier on the schedule as Baylor has been a good offensive team for the rest of the season.

Where the teams below them in the rankings have a noticeable deficiency on one end of the court, Baylor is a well-rounded team, ranking in the Top-30 nationally in both adjusted offensive and defensive efficiencies. Their biggest strength is their guard play, however. Baylor starts three guards who all share the lead ball-handling duty. MaCio Teague, a transfer from UNC Asheville, is a terrific scorer, averaging 14.6 points per game for the Bears. Davion Mitchell is a defensive specialist who is able to match up against the better guards in the conference. Sophomore Jared Butler has been the most impressive of the three, averaging 17.6 points per game and showing off his clutch gene in big moments.

Baylor has talent in the frontcourt as well with Freddie Gillespie and Tristan Clark. Clark’s health remains a major concern, however. After being picked as an all-conference player preseason, Clark has not had the expected impact as he battles back from an injury that ended his season last year. Clark is only averaging 5.3 points and 3.1 rebounds per game, well below last season’s numbers. If Baylor is going to win the Big 12, they need Clark to regain a level of play closer to how he performed last season.

Scott Drew has built a consistently good program at Baylor, and the Bears are a good enough team to compete with anyone in the nation when they play their best. They look like a team capable of making a deep NCAA tournament run, and the Big 12 schedule will give them plenty of chances to test themselves. January will bring them road games against Texas Tech, Kansas, Oklahoma State, Florida, and Iowa State. If they can play those games above .500, Baylor will be on the national radar in a big way.