Baylor Soccer Picked 11th in Preseason Big 12 Poll

IRVING, Texas — Baylor Soccer was picked to finish 11th in the Big 12 by the conference’s coaches as part of their preseason poll.

Coming off of essentially the second-worst season in program history and entering year two of the Michelle Lenard rebuild, the Bears are not expected to make the now-expanded Big 12 tournament. 

Heading into 2022, the Green-and-Gold were selected 7th but finished 9th out of 10 teams. Now that BYU, UCF, Houston and Cincinnati have joined the conference, there will be 14 teams playing soccer in 2023 with 10 of them making the conference tournament in Round Rock at the end of October.

BYU topped the poll by a single point over TCU, though Texas did earn the second most first place votes and came in just three points behind TCU. 

Past those three favorites, West Virginia, Texas Tech and UCF are seen as the next tier of contenders with Oklahoma State firmly between the lead pack and the bottom half of the conference. 

Kansas, Oklahoma and Houston were the other three teams picked above Baylor, and the Bears have every chance of finishing the year above them. Michelle Lenard’s squad will have to best at least one of them to make the conference tournament if the other predictions hold. 

With four new programs in the conference and each team no longer playing all other members, accurate predictions are tougher than in the past. Add that to Coach Lenard’s quiet confidence in her squad, and the Bears could surprise some people this year with a push toward the top half of the table. All possibilities are open and it is nearly time to start settling it on the field.

The Bears' first game is August 17th at Oregon. Their first home game is August 31st vs Louisiana Tech. The first Big 12 game for the Green-and-Gold is September 14th vs Texas.

2023 Big 12 Soccer Preseason Poll