NCAA Basketball: Texas, Virginia soar on top 25 ranking ahead of Thanksgiving

7. Baylor (4-1)

Scott Drew’s team looks different this year but there are still championship aspirations in Waco. They’ve lost some seniors and some transfers, but some familiar faces are playing big roles early in the season. It’s been business as usual for the most part, though the Bears got a significant challenge in Las Vegas this past week and couldn’t quite pull out the wins they needed.

The week started successfully with a 95-62 home win over Northern Colorado, including a 20-point performance from LJ Cryer. That unfortunate result came in their first matchup at the Main Event, falling 86-79 to #16 Virginia. They got solid offense from freshman Keyonte George (20 points), but allowed the Cavaliers to make 64% of their 3-pointers in the loss. Fortunately, the Bears got a real bounce-back effort two days later, toppling #8 UCLA 80-75. Cryer had 28 points and Adam Flagler added 22 to pace the Bears to that impressive win.

A loss to Virginia is certainly forgivable, especially with the way the Cavaliers are playing this season. Baylor’s defense has been mostly solid, and they aren’t going to give up shooting nights like that very often this year, not even in Big 12 play. Baylor didn’t quite get the job fully done in Las Vegas but proved they belonged in those two hard-fought games. There’s not much challenge on the horizon with a home date with McNeese State, but the Bears do have a matchup with Gonzaga looming at the beginning of December.