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Baylor Soccer Prepares for Pair of Ranked Opponents
After earning their first Big 12 win of the season last week, Baylor Soccer (6-4-1, 1-2) travels to face No. 16 Colorado (9-1, 3-0) on Thursday before returning home to square off with No. 22 TCU (7-2-1, 2-0-1) on Sunday.
The Bears sit down at 11th in the standings having picked up just three points from their first three conference games. The rest of Baylor’s conference schedule is no easier than their first 11 games. Only Utah sits both below the Green and Gold as well as on the Bears’ remaining schedule.
Now the Bears can compete with anyone in the conference, but winning close games against good competition will define the rest of the season.
The Bears have the 7th best RPI in the conference currently speaking to their tough non-conference schedule that saw them go 5-2-1.
Team | RPI Rank |
BYU | 23 |
TCU | 26 |
West Virginia | 32 |
Oklahoma State | 33 |
Colorado | 36 |
Texas Tech | 39 |
Baylor | 47 |
Arizona | 54 |
UCF | 55 |
Cincinnati | 76 |
Utah | 80 |
Arizona State | 92 |
Houston | 100 |
Kansas | 112 |
Kansas State | 212 |
Iowa State | 216 |
Looking at these numbers, the Bears absolutely must win the October 10th game against the Sun Devils, and the final two games on the road against Utah and Iowa State in late October.
Baylor’s other five games are against teams currently inside the top 40 of the RPI. Each of those matchups will be a great opportunity to improve the Bears’ resume and move up the conference standings.
As far as this week’s matchups go, Baylor is 6-7-3 all time against Colorado. The last meeting was in 2019 when the Bears fell 1-0.
Last year in Fort Worth, the Green and Gold fell to the Horned Frogs in a close 1-0 game. A 7th-minute penalty kick goal was the difference. Overall, the Bears are 14-4-4 against TCU.
Kickoff from Boulder Colorado is set for 8 PM CT on Thursday with streaming available through ESPN+.
Sunday’s rivalry game will kickoff at 1 PM CT at Betty Lou Mayes Field in Waco (ESPN+).