I read up on the brackets from experts from CBS, Sports Illustrated, and USA Today to see how they thought Baylor and the Big XII would do. There were brackets from

Cameron Salerno (picked Houston to win it all, Baylor to win one game)
Chip Patterson (UConn to win it all, Baylor to make the Elite 8)
Dennis Dodd (N Carolina to win it all, Baylor to make the Sweet 16)
Jerry Palm (Purdue to win it all, Baylor to make the Sweet 16)
David Cobb (Purdue to win it all, Baylor to make the Elite 8)
Kyle Boone (Purdue to win it all, Baylor to make the Final 4)
Matt Norlander (UConn to win it all, Baylor to make the Sweet 16)
Gary Parrish (Purdue to win it all, Baylor to make the Final 4)
Kevin Sweeney (Purdue to win it all, Baylor to make the Final 4)
Pat Forde (UConn to win it all, Baylor to make the Final 4)
Jordan Mendoza (UConn to win it all, Baylor to win one game)
Paul Myerberg (Houston to win it all, Baylor to make the Sweet 16)
Erick Smith (Iowa State to win it all, Baylor to make the Final 4)
Eddie Timanus (UConn to win it all, Baylor to win 1 game)
Dan Wolken (UConn to win it all, Baylor to make the Sweet 16)

So all fifteen expect Baylor to beat Colgate, with 12 of 15 seeing us play in at least the second weekend, and five called for us to win thr West region.

For comparison, Houston ranged from Elite 8 to National Champs, Iowa State ranged from winning one game to winning it all, Texas Tech was predicted to lose its opener by 4 experts, Kansas is expected to lose its opener by 7 experts, BYU is expected to lose its opener by 2 experts, Texas is expected to lose its opener by 2 experts, and all but 4 expect TCU to lose its opener, and those 4 say TCU will lose in the Round of 32.

So I hope we meet expectations!

Depressing results for the Big12 in general....

I'm surprised how many of these people predict that we will make the Final Four. I hope they are correct but I don't expect it.

KIA said:

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I guess those experts don't read this message board ...

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It's almost certain they haven't watched Baylor -- or any single team really -- as much as we have.

But this is pretty representative of opinions here. Most feel we're capable of getting bounced in the second round or making a run to the Elite Eight. I don't see this team making a Final Four run under any plausible circumstances, but I'd love to be surprised.

I think Langston could be the x factor in our second game (assuming we beat Colgate as we should). It's not just his skill set but Love adds a dimension to our attack that makes us more dangerous at every position.

If Love can play anywhere full strength, Elite Eight is a reasonable target at least.

historian said:

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I'm surprised how many of these people produce that will make it to the Final Four. I hope they are correct but I don't expect it.

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Blue blood type respect.

We certainly could make F4 if we play up to our potential. Unfortunately we are inconsistent and sometime lay an egg shooting.

Survive and advance each game.

Just my opinion but I see Rd of 32 exit without LL. With him we can score enough to reach the S16. Anything beyond is gravy.
For what it's worth I have us in the E8 but that's the pure homer in me

IowaBear said:

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Just my opinion but I see Rd of 32 exit without LL. With him we can score enough to reach the S16. Anything beyond is gravy.
For what it's worth I have us in the E8 but that's the pure homer in me

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One thing to remember is we beat a healthy Kansas and tournament teams from TCU and Texas without Love, so we're capable of beating quality competition. But his injury definitely lowers our margin for error and forces Bridges and Nunn, in particular, to be impact players for us in his absence.

We'll see how it goes, but if we have to play without Love, it's probably good that we've had almost two months of practice doing exactly that and will be using essentially the same rotations we have for the past 10 or so games.

BearFan33 said:

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historian said:

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I'm surprised how many of these people produce that will make it to the Final Four. I hope they are correct but I don't expect it.

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Blue blood type respect.

We certainly could make F4 if we play up to our potential. Unfortunately we are inconsistent and sometime lay an egg shooting.

Survive and advance each game.

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Good point.
Original corrected

bear2be2 said:

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IowaBear said:

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Just my opinion but I see Rd of 32 exit without LL. With him we can score enough to reach the S16. Anything beyond is gravy.
For what it's worth I have us in the E8 but that's the pure homer in me

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One thing to remember is we beat a healthy Kansas and tournament teams from TCU and Texas without Love, so we're capable of beating quality competition. But his injury definitely lowers our margin for error and forces Bridges and Nunn, in particular, to be impact players for us in his absence.

We'll see how it goes, but if we have to play without Love, it's probably good that we've had almost two months of practice doing exactly that and will be using essentially the same rotations we have for the past 10 or so games.

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Respectfully, that KU team had all their players on the floor, but even then they weren't healthy.

TCU and Texas are good wins, we'll need to play better than we did against Texas to win in the tournament though.

IvanBear said:

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bear2be2 said:

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IowaBear said:

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Just my opinion but I see Rd of 32 exit without LL. With him we can score enough to reach the S16. Anything beyond is gravy.
For what it's worth I have us in the E8 but that's the pure homer in me

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One thing to remember is we beat a healthy Kansas and tournament teams from TCU and Texas without Love, so we're capable of beating quality competition. But his injury definitely lowers our margin for error and forces Bridges and Nunn, in particular, to be impact players for us in his absence.

We'll see how it goes, but if we have to play without Love, it's probably good that we've had almost two months of practice doing exactly that and will be using essentially the same rotations we have for the past 10 or so games.

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Respectfully, that KU team had all their players on the floor, but even then they weren't healthy.

TCU and Texas are good wins, we'll need to play better than we did against Texas to win in the tournament though.

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McCullar was the only player not healthy, and he played a great game against us. The others weren't even nursing injuries.