NCAA Basketball: Duke, Michigan State fall in latest top 25 power ranking

14. Baylor (2-0)

While the Bears are now three seasons removed from their national title, this Baylor program is still buzzing and still sits as one of the favorites in the Big 12. Scott Drew had an entire backcourt to replace and went to work rebooting this lineup with new talent, both freshmen and transfers. Although they sit a tier behind teams like Kansas in the early going, there’s plenty to like about these Bears.

For starters, they faced a legitimate challenge in their opening game, heading to South Dakota for a neutral-site contest at the Sanford Pentagon against Auburn. Down nine at the half, the Bears used an offensive second half to pull out an 88-82 win, getting 28 points and 6 rebounds from freshman Ja’Kobe Walter in his college debut. Baylor was back in action two days later in a less exciting contest, coasting to a 96-70 win over non-D1 John Brown. While the Bears shot quite poorly from outside the arc, newcomer RayJ Dennis had 16 points, 8 assists, and 6 steals in the win.

Coming back strong late against Auburn was great to see from a Bears squad that’s still feeling itself out with plenty of new faces in the rotation. It was Baylor’s only significant test in the first few weeks of the season, with home dates against Gardner-Webb and Kansas City awaiting in the coming days. Baylor has a chance to do some significant damage and grow together as a team before the schedule starts getting rough in mid-December.