17. Baylor (5-2)
It would be blatantly untrue to say that Baylor basketball had a great month to start the season, though at the same time it definitely could’ve been worse. They had some rough play in big losses against Gonzaga and Tennessee, but also fought for tough wins over Arkansas and St. John’s. There are new pieces in this rotation that aren’t quite playing up to their potential quite yet, but Scott Drew is hoping they can figure this out in the next month before league play begins.
The Bears were at home this past week, winning 91-60 over New Orleans in a game that happened back on Wednesday. Baylor put together yet another dominant performance over a mid-major, led by a 23-point performance from Jayden Nunn alongside a 12-point, 13-rebound effort from Norchad Omier, one of those talented new pieces.
If you look at the raw data, Baylor has played very uneven basketball against the top-level opponents, but a lot of teams are going to struggle defensively with Gonzaga and Tennessee. At this moment in time, Baylor is not an elite team, but that doesn’t mean they can’t figure this all out for Big 12 play, especially with the way this offense has shown that they can play. Unfortunately, what lies in wait is a monumental task at Connecticut in the Big 12/Big East Battle, with the Bears hoping to continue the Huskies’ recent slide.