Baylor Basketball

Gameday Thread: Baylor Looks to Upset Kansas in Allen Fieldhouse

Baylor men’s basketball (11-5; 1-3) travels to Kansas (12-5; 2-2) on Friday, Jan. 16, at 7 p.m. CT. The game will be streamed on Fox Network.
January 15, 2026
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LAWRENCE, Kansas – Baylor men’s basketball (11-5; 1-3) travels to Kansas (12-5; 2-2) on Friday, Jan. 16, at 7 p.m. CT. The game will be televised on FOX.


Computer Models

  • Torvik: Baylor (48), Kansas (13)
    • Prediction: Kansas 85, Baylor 73
  • KenPom: Baylor (40), Kansas (17)
    • Prediction: Kansas 82, Baylor 74
  • Haslametrics: Baylor (45), Kansas (19)
    • Prediction: Kansas 81, Baylor 72
  • Evan Miyakawa: Baylor (41), Kansas (17)
    • Prediction: Kansas 82, Baylor 72

Projected Lineups

Baylor Starters

  • Guard: Obi Agbim (5Sr.) 6-3, 185 (11 ppg; 4 asst)
  • Guard: Tounde Yessoufou (Fr.) 6-5, 215 (18 ppg; 6 reb; 2 steals)
  • Forward: Cameron Carr (RSo.) 6-5, 175 (20 ppg; 5 reb; 2 blks)
  • Forward: Michael Rataj (Sr.) 6-8, 230 (10 ppg; 6 reb; 3 asst)
  • Center: Caden Powell (Sr.) 6-9, 225 (7 ppg; 8 reb)

Baylor Bench

  • Guard: Isaac Williams IV (So.) 6-1, 190 (10 ppg; 3 asst)
  • Center: James Nnaji (Fr.) 7-0 250 (3 ppg; 4 reb)
  • *Forward: Dan Skillings (Sr.) 6-7, 200 (11 ppg; 6 reb; 3 asst)

*sprained knee/questionable


Projected Lineups

Kansas Starters

  • Guard: Darryn Peterson (Fr.) 6-6, 205 (22 ppg; 5 reb)
  • Guard: Melvin Council (Sr.) 6-4, 180 (14 ppg; 4 reb; 5 asst)
  • Forward: Tre White (Sr.) 6-7, 215 (15 ppg; 7 reb)
  • Forward: Flory Bidunga (So.) 6-10, 235 (14 ppg; 9 reb; 3 blks)
  • Forward: Bryson Tiller (Fr.) 6-11, 240 (8 ppg; 6 reb)

Kansas Bench

  • Guard: Jamari McDowell (So.) 6-5, 200 (4 ppg; 2 asst)
  • Guard: Elmarko Jackson (So.) 6-3, 195 (4 ppg; 2 asst)
  • Guard: Kohl Rosario (Fr.) 6-6, 200 (4 ppg)
177 Comments
Discussion from...

Gameday Thread: Baylor Looks to Upset Kansas in Allen Fieldhouse

15,425 Views | 177 Replies | Last: 1 mo ago by BluesBear
Big12Fan2024
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Ok, wasn't expecting a win tonight and obviously now not getting one. We're basically just gonna have to be flawless (meaning beat all of them) against the others in the conference like WVU, Arizona St, Utah, Colorado, UC, Kansas St, UCF and take TCU at home.

Time to watch golf in Hawaii.
ImABearToo
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He's 7' tall. That's it.
“Life is short, eat desert first!”
JXL
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Not sure which is worse - our defense or these TV announcers
historian
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Yea, it's out of reach now. We've given them the ball too many times, missed too many shots, and have had spotty defense. We've given up at least 3 lobs each half!
“Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!”
Psalm 119:36
Crawfoso1973
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Big12Fan2024 said:

I knew Nnaji was gonna be raw but he's a bit more raw than even I was expecting from a basic fundamentals perspective. Glad we'll have him for awhile and hopefully can develop him.


He looks awful but he was thrown into the fire without an offseason or pre -conference season. He is out of game shape and a step slow trying too figure out the team defense on the fly. Completely out of position, thinking instead of playing instinctively.
JXL
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An injury to Carr is not what we need
Johnny Bear
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And now Carr hurt.
Bearszzz
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Baylor hoops is hard to watch. The offense scheme is terrible, so much individual play and no team basketball. How long do we just turn a blind eye to mediocrity and ineffective play because we have a lottery pick player?
Johnny Bear
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This one's over. Might as well give the white guys some minutes.
BearFan33
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Skillings with a nice drive but cant finish.

Ku with a 3.

We had a nice run in the first half but then fizzled out the rest of the game.

Need to cherish every possession
Oldbear83
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Johnny Bear said:

This one's over. Might as well give the white guys some minutes.

Beginning to realize just how truly bad Oklahoma State's basketball program is this season
That which does not kill me, will try again and get nastier
IowaBear
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Unpopular opinion. But this is just a bad basketball team. Winning on any given night is going to require a team heater.
NIT is likely this squads ceiling
Big12Fan2024
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Starting to think you're right. As I said earlier, we'll have to be flawless against the rest of the conference and we're just too evenly skilled with those teams to do anything more than probably 50/50 or 60/40.
CHP Bear
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SMH, SMH, SMH
Johnny Bear
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Oldbear83 said:

Johnny Bear said:

This one's over. Might as well give the white guys some minutes.

Beginning to realize just how truly bad Oklahoma State's basketball program is this season

OSU is definitely bottom half of the big 12 (like us) but there are weaker teams in the league. We were just super on that night - for a change.
IowaBear
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Sucks to see the demise of BU basketball. But there's no sugarcoating it imo. Baylor has been lapped by several teams in the B12. Just a mid program right now with not much to look forward too on any given night
Big12Fan2024
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I know there are a lot of people and factors involved, but it just feels like we have a growing hole in talent evaluation somewhere and I don't believe it is all related to not having enough NIL. I think we're missing on some of the higher paid NIL players we get and then I also look around and there are some solid fundamental players on Top 25 teams that I do not believe came at a high NIL price tag. They are just good solid pieces that, when put together with other pieces, work really well as a team.
BluesBear
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We need some transparency on the annual spend for the men's basketball program. We play 8 - what are we doing with only a 8 player rotation?? If this is the case, we sure don't need a 1-1 player to coach rotation. Let's trim the fat off this staff and use it for better players. We go and get a bigger body in the paint and get smoked by almost 3-1 point ratio. What was the cost for this midseason acquisition.

IMO. Drew has 1 more year to figure out. If he can't, we need to consider other options. He's not living up to the $4m per year salary.
Oldbear83
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Only an ungrateful idiot who is new to Basketball would want to get rid of Scott Drew.

That which does not kill me, will try again and get nastier
pilgrim
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Oldbear83 said:

Only an ungrateful idiot who is new to Basketball would want to get rid of Scott Drew.



True. Some are going insane and jumping out of windows (metaphorically).
Stefano DiMera
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He makes at least $5.5 mil
BellCountyBear
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BluesBear said:

We need some transparency on the annual spend for the men's basketball program. We play 8 - what are we doing with only a 8 player rotation?? If this is the case, we sure don't need a 1-1 player to coach rotation. Let's trim the fat off this staff and use it for better players. We go and get a bigger body in the paint and get smoked by almost 3-1 point ratio. What was the cost for this midseason acquisition.

IMO. Drew has 1 more year to figure out. If he can't, we need to consider other options. He's not living up to the $4m per year salary.

How many of these "coaches" are just there to make sure these guys don't become "bad dudes" like under Briles?
DP4LIFE
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Really hard to win against the upper B12 teams without a PG and the reality that while we hoped Rataj would be Omier-lite, he's really Celestine 2.0.
BUBradley
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Jorkel
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BUBradley said:



We should have paid him 80K too. he is trash
Johnny Bear
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Oldbear83 said:

Only an ungrateful idiot who is new to Basketball would want to get rid of Scott Drew.


When Drew did the unthinkable and won a men's bball natty at BU he all but cemented himself as our HC for as long as he wants to be, barring something like an out of left field scandal. For the seat to even get warm, he'd prolly have to do something like miss the post season entirely (beyond the B12 Tourney) for at least 3 straight seasons. Don't forget we're Baylor - where even coaches like Dave Aranda are allowed to hang around indefinitely.
True Grit
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We whiff on too many portal players. The only way this year's plan works is if those with eligibility left (and fit the system) actually stay next year, and Drew adds more missing pieces.
Crawfoso1973
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True Grit said:

We whiff on too many portal players. The only way this year's plan works is if those with eligibility left (and fit the system) actually stay next year, and Drew adds more missing pieces.

Williams, Nnaji, the injured guys, and the walkons are all we will have potentially returning. Williams will command a lot in the portal so we might not be able to match. We may be back to square one again.
Youre a clown
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BluesBear said:

We need some transparency on the annual spend for the men's basketball program. We play 8 - what are we doing with only a 8 player rotation?? If this is the case, we sure don't need a 1-1 player to coach rotation. Let's trim the fat off this staff and use it for better players. We go and get a bigger body in the paint and get smoked by almost 3-1 point ratio. What was the cost for this midseason acquisition.

IMO. Drew has 1 more year to figure out. If he can't, we need to consider other options. He's not living up to the $4m per year salary.

I see the thought police on this board are already coming after you for dare suggesting that Scott Drew be held to any sort of standard. It is such a typical Baylor thing to be OK with mediocrity. I will never understand it
Bearwhiz
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Baylor sports just sucks right now and there isn't much hope in this new dynamic.
Oldbear83
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Johnny Bear said:

Oldbear83 said:

Only an ungrateful idiot who is new to Basketball would want to get rid of Scott Drew.


When Drew did the unthinkable and won a men's bball natty at BU he all but cemented himself as our HC for as long as he wants to be, barring something like an out of left field scandal. For the seat to even get warm, he'd prolly have to do something like miss the post season entirely (beyond the B12 Tourney) for at least 3 straight seasons. Don't forget we're Baylor - where even coaches like Dave Aranda are allowed to hang around indefinitely.

I think a lot of people have no idea what Scott Drew accomplished here. There's really no comparison between Coach Aranda and Coach Drew, when you look at the facts.

Dave Aranda came to Baylor from LSU when Baylor was a successful program in both conference and national terms. Aranda's 2021 team was loaded with talent, which showed in the conference title and Sugar Bowl win.

Scott Drew, on the other hand, came to a Baylor program on the verge of being shut down after the Bliss scandal, and which received severe penalties to their recruiting and schedule. No expert in basketball expected Baylor to be competitive in the next decade, let alone be an NCAA tournament team, but Drew built a program quickly that is now one of the most respected in the game.

As to missing the post season, only seven teams have gone to the NCAA Tournament six straight seasons or more, and Drew is on that list, tied with Bill Self at Kansas. Just in case someone forgot that it's hard for even a great coach to make the tournament on a regular basis.

Drew is a genuine unicorn, a great recruiter, developer of talent and on-court coach who has proven results for a very long time. Lose him and our program immediately becomes Aranda-level.
That which does not kill me, will try again and get nastier
BUBradley
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Any update on Cam Carr?
Crawfoso1973
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Youre a clown said:

BluesBear said:

We need some transparency on the annual spend for the men's basketball program. We play 8 - what are we doing with only a 8 player rotation?? If this is the case, we sure don't need a 1-1 player to coach rotation. Let's trim the fat off this staff and use it for better players. We go and get a bigger body in the paint and get smoked by almost 3-1 point ratio. What was the cost for this midseason acquisition.

IMO. Drew has 1 more year to figure out. If he can't, we need to consider other options. He's not living up to the $4m per year salary.

I see the thought police on this board are already coming after you for dare suggesting that Scott Drew be held to any sort of standard. It is such a typical Baylor thing to be OK with mediocrity. I will never understand it


CSD led us to a national championship followed by multiple consecutive years of tournament appearances. After bringing us from the depths of oblivion. That doesn't strike me as mediocre but maybe that's just me.
IvanBear
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I'm a huge Drew fan, but the question has to be asked is his heart in this anymore.

If he's really going to retire in 3 years like Ashley Hodge has predicted, maybe he needs to be encouraged to go now, he's lost his ability to assemble a team. It's going to be as if we hired a new coach again next season even if Drew is here.
Oldbear83
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IvanBear said:

I'm a huge Drew fan, but the question has to be asked is his heart in this anymore.

If he's really going to retire in 3 years like Ashley Hodge has predicted, maybe he needs to be encouraged to go now, he's lost his ability to assemble a team. It's going to be as if we hired a new coach again next season even if Drew is here.

I see no evidence at all that Drew is just going through the motions.

The only evidence is that some shallow fans expect neverending success with no understanding of how hard it is for a program to win.
That which does not kill me, will try again and get nastier
 
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