WACO, Texas – Baylor basketball 16th-year head coach Scott Drew announced the Bears’ 31-game 2018-19 schedule on Wednesday morning. All Baylor men’s basketball games will be televised for a seventh consecutive season, including at least 19 games on ESPN networks.
The Bears’ 13-game non-conference schedule is highlighted by a stretch of five consecutive games against teams that won at least 23 games last season and a trip to Niceville, Fla., to play in the 2018 Emerald Coast Classic. All told, BU will play at least 19 games against teams that earned 2018 NCAA Tournament berths.
All of Baylor’s non-conference games that aren’t picked up by national networks will be shown on Fox Sports Southwest or Fox Sports Southwest-Plus as part of the Bears’ third-tier TV package. Third-tier games will also be streamed on Fox Sports Go. The Emerald Coast Classic will be televised on CBS Sports Network.
Baylor opens the season with four consecutive home games. The Bears tip off the season on Nov. 6 against Texas Southern, a team coming off its fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance. BU then hosts Southern on Nov. 10, Prairie View A&M on Nov. 12 and Nichols State on Nov. 16.
BU then heads to Niceville, Fla., for the 2018 Emerald Coast Classic, which runs Nov. 23-24 at The Arena at Northwest Florida State College. The Bears open against Ole Miss at 8:30 p.m. CT on Nov. 23, then face either Cincinnati or George Mason the following day at either 6 p.m. or 8:30 p.m.
Baylor returns home to start a difficult five-game stretch against teams that all won at least 23 games last season. BU hosts 26-win South Dakota on Nov. 27 before heading on the road for consecutive games against elite programs. The Bears play at Wichita State on Dec. 1 and at Arizona on Dec. 15. Both WSU and Arizona earned No. 4 seeds in the 2018 NCAA Tournament, with the Shockers posting a 25-win season and Arizona winning 27 games.
BU then returns home for three more non-conference games before Big 12 play. Baylor welcomes 28-win Stephen F. Austin on Dec. 18, takes on 23-win Oregon on Dec. 21 and hosts New Orleans on Dec. 29. The Oregon game will be televised on ESPN2.
The Bears will play on ESPN networks for 17 of their 18 Big 12 Conference games, and most of those games can be flexed between ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU, with final network designations made at a later date.
Drew’s crew opens the Big 12 schedule on the road at TCU on Saturday, Jan. 5, but the Bears then play at home for each of the next five Saturdays. BU’s Big 12 home opener is against Iowa State on Tuesday, Jan. 8. The Bears then begin a three-week stretch of Saturday home games followed by Monday road games.
BU hosts Kansas on Saturday, Jan. 12, then heads to Stillwater to take on Oklahoma State on Monday, Jan. 14. The Bears return home to face Texas Tech in the 92nd-anniversary Immortal Ten Game on Saturday, Jan. 19, before making the longest trip of the season to Morgantown to face West Virginia on Monday, Jan. 21. BU is back in Waco for the 2019 SEC/Big 12 Challenge against Alabama on Saturday, Jan. 26, and the Bears travel to Norman the following Monday to face Oklahoma on Jan. 28.
BU then hosts a home contest against TCU on Saturday, Feb. 2, beginning a stretch with seven of eight games in-state. The Bears then play at Texas on Wednesday, Feb. 6, before returning to the Ferrell Center for games against Kansas State on Saturday, Feb. 9, and against Oklahoma on Monday, Feb. 11. Next up is a trip to Lubbock to face Texas Tech on Saturday, Feb. 16, followed by the only out-of-state February game at Iowa State on Tuesday, Feb. 19.
BU hosts consecutive games against West Virginia on Saturday, Feb. 23, and against Texas on Wednesday, Feb. 27. The schedule wraps up with two of three March games in the Sunflower State, as the Bears travel to Manhattan to face Kansas State on Saturday, March 2 and wrap up the regular season with a trip to Lawrence to face Kansas on Saturday, March 9. Between those two games, the Bears host a Senior Night game against Oklahoma State on Wednesday, March 6.
The 2019 Big 12 Championship runs March 13-16 at the Sprint Center in Kansas City.
Season tickets can be purchased by calling the Baylor Athletics Ticket Office at 254-710-1000 or online atwww.BaylorBears.com/tickets. Single game tickets will go on sale to the general public on Monday, Sept. 10. Follow @BaylorMBB on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for updates throughout the year.
Baylor Basketball 2018-19 Schedule
DATE OPPONENT LOCATION TV TIME (CT)
Tuesday, Nov. 6 TEXAS SOUTHERN Waco, Texas TBD TBD
Saturday, Nov. 10 SOUTHERN1 Waco, Texas TBD TBD
Monday, Nov. 12 PRAIRIE VIEW A&M Waco, Texas TBD TBD
Friday, Nov. 16 NICHOLS STATE1 Waco, Texas TBD TBD
Friday, Nov. 23 vs. Ole Miss2 Niceville, Fla. CBSSN 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 24 vs. Cincinnati -or- George Mason2 Niceville, Fla. CBSSN 6/8:30
Tuesday, Nov. 27 SOUTH DAKOTA Waco, Texas TBD TBD
Saturday, Dec. 1 at Wichita State Wichita, Kan. TBD TBD
Saturday, Dec. 15 at Arizona Tucson, Ariz. TBD TBD
Tuesday, Dec. 18 STEPHEN F. AUSTIN Waco, Texas TBD TBD
Friday, Dec. 21 OREGON Waco, Texas TBD 6 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 29 NEW ORLEANS Waco, Texas TBD TBD
Saturday, Jan. 5 at TCU Fort Worth, Texas ESPNU 3 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 8 IOWA STATE Waco, Texas ESPNEWS 6 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 12 KANSAS Waco, Texas ESPN/2 3 p.m.
Monday, Jan. 14 at Oklahoma State Stillwater, Okla. ESPN/U 8 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 19 TEXAS TECH Waco, Texas ESPN/2/U 5 p.m.
Monday, Jan. 21 at West Virginia Morgantown, W.Va. ESPN/U 8 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 26 ALABAMA3 Waco, Texas ESPN/2/U TBD
Monday, Jan. 28 at Oklahoma Norman, Okla. ESPN/U 8 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 2 TCU Waco, Texas ESPN/2/U 7 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 6 at Texas Austin, Texas LHN TBD
Saturday, Feb. 9 KANSAS STATE Waco, Texas ESPN/2 5 p.m.
Monday, Feb. 11 OKLAHOMA Waco, Texas ESPN/2 8 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 16 at Texas Tech Lubbock, Texas ESPN/2/U 1 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 19 at Iowa State Ames, Iowa ESPN2/U 8 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 23 WEST VIRGINIA Waco, Texas ESPN/2/U 1 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 27 TEXAS Waco, Texas ESPN2/U 8 p.m.
Saturday, March 2 at Kansas State Manhattan, Kan. ESPN2/U 7 p.m.
Wednesday, March 6 OKLAHOMA STATE Waco, Texas ESPN2/U 8 p.m.
Saturday, March 9 at Kansas Lawrence, Kan. ESPN/2 1 p.m.
March 13-16 Big 12 Championship4 Kansas City, Mo. ESPN/2/U TBD
1 – Emerald Coast Classic Campus Site Games; Ferrell Center (Waco, Texas)
2 – Emerald Coast Classic; The Arena at Northwest Florida State College (Niceville, Fla.)
3 – SEC/Big 12 Challenge; Ferrell Center (Waco, Texas)
4 – at Sprint Center (Kansas City, Mo.)
