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Are the Bears as good as their record says they are?
The Baylor Bears are undefeated and have been ranked as high as No. 2 in the AP top 25 poll. When the second edition of the College Football Playoff rankings are released Tuesday evening, the Bears could move from No. 6 to No. 5.
But does anybody really know just how good Baylor is? The answer to that question is not really. When No. 15 Oklahoma visits McLane Stadium on Saturday night, it will be the first ranked opponent Baylor will play this season. In fact, Baylor (8-0, 5-0) has not played a team with a current winning record.
And now Baylor must go the rest of the way with true freshman quarterback Jarrett Stidham, who was impressive in his first career start last week in a 31-24 win at Kansas State, but is still an unproven player in the heat of a do-or-die game.
Baylor's next four games are about to let us know if it is true championship material. After the Sooners, the Bears go on the road to face No. 14 Oklahoma State (which will be ranked much higher in Tuesday's CFP rankings after blowing out TCU last Saturday) and then play at No. 8 TCU (which will be ranked much lower) before finishing up against Texas.
Sports Illustrated sought out Big 12 college football coaches to answer this very question: Just how good are the Bears? Here's what they said:
A veteran Big 12 assistant: "I don't think we have a great team in our league this year. I really don't. I don't think there'll be an undefeated team from our league."
Iowa State coach Paul Rhoads: "I'd say yes to that," Rhoads said when asked if this was the best Baylor team he's seen. "Offensively, they've got all the weapons. They've got numerous receivers. They got a great running back. They've got an offense line that can protect and open holes."
The veteran Big 12 assistant: "They haven't played anyone. I don't know if they're as good as they were last year. Their secondary is very average. Their field corner (Ryan Reid) is very average, their safeties are not great in space and their linebackers are very average. I'm not trying to say they are bad, but against a Top 5-tier team, that's where they'll struggle."
