Baylor Basketball Falls One Spot in Both National Polls

Baylor men’s basketball has dropped in the major national polls despite wins by 37 and 63 points in the last week. The Bears now sit No. 13 in the Associated Press poll and No. 15 in the USA Today Coaches poll down from No. 12 and No. 14 respectively.

While the 37-point win over Sam Houston (No. 109 in KenPom) and the 63-point annihilation of Tarleton (No. 302 in KenPom) were not impressive from a resume-building perspective, head coach Scott Drew’s team did all they could to move in the right direction in the polls.

Kentucky’s 77-72 win over Duke moved the Wildcats past Baylor in both polls to No. 9/11 (AP/Coaches). Meanwhile, Arizona’s 103-88 loss to Wisconsin, Purdue’s 87-78 win over Alabama and Marquette’s close win over Maryland shuffled the polls up more. Arizona dropped below Baylor in both polls (now No. 17 in both), while Purdue jumped back above Baylor in the AP from No. 13 to No. 6. The Boilermakers are also at No. 6 in the Coaches poll.

Marquette is very close to the Bears in both rankings, sitting at No. 15 in the AP and No. 14 in the Coaches poll.

Elsewhere in the Big 12, Kansas remains undefeated and atop both polls. Iowa State has played a pair of easy games but sits at No. 5 in both polls. Houston rebounded from its loss to a very good Auburn team with a win over Louisiana to settle at No. 7 in both polls. 

Cincinnati is the last Big 12 team ranked in both polls, sitting at No. 16 in the AP and No. 18 in the Coaches poll. Texas Tech is ranked No. 22 in the Coaches poll but is the first team out of the AP poll.

BYU and UCF received votes in both polls, while Kansas State and Arizona State received a small number of votes in the AP.

KenPom Rankings