This is going to be a tough one. In their last game Utah beat a decent Cincy team 45-14. Not sure how this bizarre Mack Rhoades story may impact the team prep this week.

I probably won't mess with the spread because I don't like betting against BU...but I'll be taking the Under 60.5.

Good, motivation for poor lil' underdog Baylor

Only -9.5?

They are going to kick our ass up and down the field for 60 minutes.

Sounds like you need to place an uncomfortably large bet on Utah.

This game has me thinking what a great opportunity Aranda has to prove he belongs to be the coach at Baylor after this season. He has a buy week and many weeks of Utah film to study. He has the opportunity to beat a ranked team at home no less. I'm going to weigh a lot of my decision to retain or get rid of Dave until after this game.

Baylor's performance is determined whether Mad Mack is on the sidelines...

Smashmouth said:

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This game has me thinking what a great opportunity Aranda has to prove he belongs to be the coach at Baylor after this season. He has a buy week and many weeks of Utah film to study. He has the opportunity to beat a ranked team at home no less. I'm going to weigh a lot of my decision to retain or get rid of Dave until after this game.

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I believe reasonable people can disagree about things like this, so I'm curious: in your opinion, what could the team or Dave do that would make you believe he is the right guy to continue to lead this program? For me, even if he wins the Utah game and we win out the rest of the season, that's no different from last season where we finished strong (relatively), but then have been incredibly inconsistent and disappointing this season with a huge amount of returning production from last year.

Next year, however you slice it, is going to be a huge rebuiliding year from a talent standpoint, and I just don't think there is anything Dave can do at this point that would give me any confidence that he should continue to be the head coach at Baylor and see us through that process. At this point, the sample size is certainly large enough, we know who he is and what he's capable of.

I didnt bet the UCF game bc I thought we would struggle and came out and cooked. I hope we can keep that momentum and keep this one close. I may do a one unit bet at +10. I still would like to see us move on but if we dump Mack we can give Dave one more year and the new AD can make a move next year..

And they won't even need to throw a forward pass.

It's a tough road trip to a different sort of climate, Baylor has had a bye week to do more than the usual preparation and scouting in probably their biggest game remaining on the schedule, and to their future beyond 2025.

They probably will have some good concepts. But then the in-game adjustments begin...

A seemingly improbable win against a solid ranked opponent in a night game would be a real signal to our fans right now that the program is back on course, not just because we'd secured bowl eligibility with a chance to end the regular season 8-4, but more so because a program in real disarray with the wrong guy as a coach can't simply luck into such a win.

Flipside of that coin is that a blowout home loss, of say 20+ points with no consistency in discipline or energy, that would be a real signal that things are in fact in disarray and change is needed.

I for one do not expect the Bears to come out flat, and I'm quite hopeful they're ready to repeat the 4-quarter consistency we saw against UCF.

Bearknuckle said:

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A seemingly improbable win against a solid ranked opponent in a night game would be a real signal to our fans right now that the program is back on course, not just because we'd secured bowl eligibility with a chance to end the regular season 8-4, but more so because a program in real disarray with the wrong guy as a coach can't simply luck into such a win.

Flipside of that coin is that a blowout home loss, of say 20+ points with no consistency in discipline or energy, that would be a real signal that things are in fact in disarray and change is needed.

I for one do not expect the Bears to come out flat, and I'm quite hopeful they're ready to repeat the 4-quarter consistency we saw against UCF.

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As much as it hurts me to say it, I agree with Bearknuckle. But I will add that I will be very surprised if Utah doesn't cover. Even if we don't come out flat and we play with energy and don't make bonehead mistakes, I just think their O and D lines are just far superior.

WA Jim said:

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Bearknuckle said:

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A seemingly improbable win against a solid ranked opponent in a night game would be a real signal to our fans right now that the program is back on course, not just because we'd secured bowl eligibility with a chance to end the regular season 8-4, but more so because a program in real disarray with the wrong guy as a coach can't simply luck into such a win.

Flipside of that coin is that a blowout home loss, of say 20+ points with no consistency in discipline or energy, that would be a real signal that things are in fact in disarray and change is needed.

I for one do not expect the Bears to come out flat, and I'm quite hopeful they're ready to repeat the 4-quarter consistency we saw against UCF.

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As much as it hurts me to say it, I agree with Bearknuckle. But I will add that I will be very surprised if Utah doesn't cover. Even if we don't come out flat and we play with energy and don't make bonehead mistakes, I just think their O and D lines are just far superior.

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yeah tbh the outcome that feels most likely to me is a close-ish Baylor loss where the Utes don't cover but still win by 6-9pts.

In other words, the outcome that would keep the largest number of Bears in misery, as that's been or SOP for about years now (cue the "and that's why Aranda should be fired!" responses, lol).

guadalupeoso said:

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Smashmouth said:

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This game has me thinking what a great opportunity Aranda has to prove he belongs to be the coach at Baylor after this season. He has a buy week and many weeks of Utah film to study. He has the opportunity to beat a ranked team at home no less. I'm going to weigh a lot of my decision to retain or get rid of Dave until after this game.

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I believe reasonable people can disagree about things like this, so I'm curious: in your opinion, what could the team or Dave do that would make you believe he is the right guy to continue to lead this program? For me, even if he wins the Utah game and we win out the rest of the season, that's no different from last season where we finished strong (relatively), but then have been incredibly inconsistent and disappointing this season with a huge amount of returning production from last year.

Next year, however you slice it, is going to be a huge rebuiliding year from a talent standpoint, and I just don't think there is anything Dave can do at this point that would give me any confidence that he should continue to be the head coach at Baylor and see us through that process. At this point, the sample size is certainly large enough, we know who he is and what he's capable of.

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Its almost my fear that we could do worse than Dave. I know that's not what most fans feel but in reality we have been competitive. I know only W's matter and Dave has proven he can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Also, with so many high profile coaches being fired this year I'm not sure this is the time to go trying to find a new coach. That being said I'll be all in on Dave must go if we get our asses handed to us Saturday night.

Dave Aranda compared Michael Trigg to current Atlanta Falcon TE Kyle Pitts.

— Grayson Grundhoefer (@GrayGrundhoefer) November 10, 2025

Notable @CircaSports Week 12 lines

Georgia -5 Texas
Alabama -6½ Oklahoma
Notre Dame -11 at Pitt
USC -5 Iowa
Louisville -4 Clemson
San Diego St -2 Boise St https://t.co/C0sA0CPIOK

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) November 9, 2025

Smashmouth said:

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This game has me thinking what a great opportunity Aranda has to prove he belongs to be the coach at Baylor after this season. He has a buy week and many weeks of Utah film to study. He has the opportunity to beat a ranked team at home no less. I'm going to weigh a lot of my decision to retain or get rid of Dave until after this game.

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Yeah, well he had a bye week and half a season of film to prepare for TCU, and we all saw how that turned out.

Griz said:

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Sounds like you need to place an uncomfortably large bet on Utah.

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If I bet the farm on a Utah victory, Baylor should then be favored. That's how well my betting luck would go.

And if I bet the farm on an Utah victory just to get a BU win.... well, you know how that would go.

I understand what he means… But maybe keep some of those thoughts inside your head

Q: “Do you feel like the Notre Dame game is a must-win?”

Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi: “Absolutely not. It is not an ACC game…I’d gladly get beat 103 or 110 to 10…They could put 100 up on us as long as we win the next two after that.”

Interesting stance for a head coach to take. pic.twitter.com/CDSKfp5xNQ

— Tyler Horka (@tbhorka) November 10, 2025

I can't believe there's still some apocalyptic cataclysmic scenario where Baylor is still not mathematically eliminated yet

Updated odds to win the Big 12, via the @PFSNcollege FPM:

1) Texas Tech: 57.3%
2) BYU: 20.7%
3) Cincinnati: 11.1%
4) Arizona State: 4.3%
5) Houston: 3.6%
6) Utah: 2.8%
7) TCU: <0.2%
8) Arizona: <0.1%
9) Baylor: <0.1% pic.twitter.com/jrfHbD04Ms

— Cam Mellor (@CamMellor) November 9, 2025

boognish_bear said:

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I can't believe there's still some apocalyptic cataclysmic scenario where Baylor is still not mathematically eliminated yet

Updated odds to win the Big 12, via the @PFSNcollege FPM:

1) Texas Tech: 57.3%
2) BYU: 20.7%
3) Cincinnati: 11.1%
4) Arizona State: 4.3%
5) Houston: 3.6%
6) Utah: 2.8%
7) TCU: <0.2%
8) Arizona: <0.1%
9) Baylor: <0.1% pic.twitter.com/jrfHbD04Ms

— Cam Mellor (@CamMellor) November 9, 2025

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It likely hinges on the possibility of multiple air travel mishaps among conference opponents.

Guess I'm slow...I don't get this

👀👀 pic.twitter.com/uIeMNwKJQY

— Baylor Football (@BUFootball) November 10, 2025

🥶❄️ gotta bring this helmet back out https://t.co/kDZFePpkcH pic.twitter.com/tXa399YIVZ

— Chris Platt Jr. (@chrisplatt14) November 10, 2025

This is 2012 all over again. Defense has figured out how to play and we're going to upset a lot of teams the rest of this season.

boognish_bear said:

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Guess I'm slow...I don't get this

👀👀 pic.twitter.com/uIeMNwKJQY

— Baylor Football (@BUFootball) November 10, 2025

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if you zoom in on his shoulder, in tiny print it says "Don't look at the ____" and sends you on a little journey.

Bearknuckle said:

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boognish_bear said:

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Guess I'm slow...I don't get this

👀👀 pic.twitter.com/uIeMNwKJQY

— Baylor Football (@BUFootball) November 10, 2025

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if you zoom in on his shoulder, in tiny print it says "Don't look at the ____" and sends you on a little journey.

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Got it...ty

Line has dropped a little to BU +8

Bearknuckle said:

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boognish_bear said:

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Guess I'm slow...I don't get this

👀👀 pic.twitter.com/uIeMNwKJQY

— Baylor Football (@BUFootball) November 10, 2025

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if you zoom in on his shoulder, in tiny print it says "Don't look at the ____" and sends you on a little journey.

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But to what end? Saw where it says don't look at our header, and then . . . just go around in a circle?

Meh. Seems very 6-7-ish. Like, what the heck??

Done with my rant. Oh well. I guess I'm getting old. Time to yell at some clouds.

boognish_bear said:

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This is going to be a tough one. In their last game Utah beat a decent Cincy team 45-14. Not sure how this bizarre Mack Rhoades story may impact the team prep this week.

I probably won't mess with the spread because I don't like betting against BU...but I'll be taking the Under 60.5.

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Expect the bears to cover the spread and possibly win outright. The Utes not world beaters.

Utah is the best team Baylor has played this season. And that gap is gigantic

I don't really predict Baylor, or much anything else these days. But Baylor is definitely capable of putting together a great game and pulling out a win at home.

A lot of things have to align which typically haven't aligned this season. They've had an extra week to prepare. This is a great test.

hodedofome said:

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This is 2012 all over again. Defense has figured out how to play and we're going to upset a lot of teams the rest of this season.

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What have you been smoking to make you think this team is the 2012 team incarnate? Please pass me some. I believe it will take some sort of psychoactive drug for me to enjoy the game this Saturday.

The only way I can see this one staying close is if the improved defense we saw against UCF is not an outlier but a sign of some improvement.

I know UCF are not world beaters on offense… they are pretty middle of the pack… But we held them 24 points under their season average. That was a solid defensive performance.

But that was one good defensive performance against 7 other bad ones we've had this year against FBS teams. So until we see otherwise it feels like an outlier.

Booboo Bear said:

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Bearknuckle said:

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boognish_bear said:

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Guess I'm slow...I don't get this

👀👀 pic.twitter.com/uIeMNwKJQY

— Baylor Football (@BUFootball) November 10, 2025

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if you zoom in on his shoulder, in tiny print it says "Don't look at the ____" and sends you on a little journey.

---

But to what end? Saw where it says don't look at our header, and then . . . just go around in a circle?

Meh. Seems very 6-7-ish. Like, what the heck??

Done with my rant. Oh well. I guess I'm getting old. Time to yell at some clouds.

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the header on the BU Football Xwitter page says to Wear White for the Utah game - it was an engagement tool and yeah tbh probably aimed more at younger folks...