NCAA Basketball: Arizona, Baylor, and BYU rise in latest top 25 power rankings

12. Baylor (21-8)

Coming into this week, Baylor had lost a pair of games, though it wasn’t the first time that had happened. The Big 12 is a restless and merciless gauntlet of powerful teams and dropping a few games has happened to everyone in this league. That’s old news at this point, because the Bears had themselves quite the bounce back week.

First, they avenged January’s triple-overtime loss to TCU, winning 62-54 on the road against the Horned Frogs. Monday’s win included 16-point efforts from both Yves Missi and JaKobe Walter. As good as that felt, Saturday’s result felt even better, as Baylor won 82-74 over Kansas. RayJ Dennis led the charge with 19 points and 10 assists as the Bears shot 55% from the field to beat the Jayhawks, leapfrogging them in the league standings.

Baylor’s offense has been efficient and gotten the job done, even if it was the defense leading them to triumph earlier this week. The fact of the matter is that the Bears completely redid their backcourt and are getting the results they desired. The rigors of Big 12 play continue for one more week before the conference tournament as Baylor will host Texas before concluding at Texas Tech next Saturday.