ESPN lists Baylor as a team that could cause national chaos

On Monday, ESPN writer Bill Connelly wrote an article titled The teams, players and chaos scenarios that can upend college football. The article highlights many teams and players that will have an opportunity to create havoc around the college football landscape. 

Baylor was mentioned in this excerpt from the article which details Oklahoma’s treacherous path through the Big 12 schedule. The Bears are considered the toughest game remaining on the schedule for the Sooners.

The Big 12's average SP+ rating is currently 12.6 adjusted points per game, just a point behind the SEC's (13.4). Although the league has only one top-10 team to the SEC's five, its depth is astounding: Six teams rank between 14th and 33rd, and a seventh isn't far behind (No. 41 Kansas State).

This is making for one heckuva title game race. Even if we hand Oklahoma one of the two spots, the favorite for the other spot shifts from week to week. Texas and Baylor are tied with Oklahoma at 2-0, four teams are 1-1, and SP+ projects three with between 5.5 and 6.4 average conference wins. This is a delightful mess that could go down to the wire.

This constant quality also could mean trouble for OU, even if the Sooners, at No. 3 in SP+, are a step ahead overall. Their average projected win total in conference play is 7.6 games, and though they're favored in every remaining regular-season contest, SP+ gives them a 68% to 77% chance in four games:

• Week 7: Oklahoma vs. Texas -- 77% OU win probability
• Week 11: Iowa State at Oklahoma -- 77% OU win probability
• Week 12: Oklahoma at Baylor -- 68% OU win probability
• Week 14: Oklahoma at Oklahoma State -- 74% OU win probability

Odds of winning all four of those games? Just 30%. Chances of going 10-2 or worse overall: 41%.

For chaos lovers who regard wild seasons such as 2007 as the be-all and end-all of the sport, there still is hope. Maybe not much hope, but hope.

We have to acknowledge, though, that while we almost never get to the finish line with three or more unbeatens, we did have three last season. We did in 2004 and 2009, too.

By this point in the 2018 season, Clemson was finished with close games. The Tigers won every game by 20-plus points from this point forward. Alabama didn't win a game by fewer than 22 points until the SEC title game against Georgia. Notre Dame, though not on Clemson's or Alabama's level, flirted with defeat only one more time, and that was against constant chaos agent Pitt. These teams could be gearing up to dominate once more down the stretch.

In addition to the team being mentioned as potential spoilers for a top team in the country, Baylor’s Bravvion Roy was highlighted in a section that detailed top players from likely noncontenders.

Defensive tackle: Bravvion Roy (Baylor): Who doesn't love a good bowling ball in the middle? The 6-foot-1, 333-pound senior has 4.5 TFLs, plus a sack and three hurries for a Baylor defense that might be the Big 12's best.

The 23rd-ranked Baylor Bears are starting to get the national audiences attention with how they have played through the first five games of the season. If the Bears keep winning the notice will continue to rise. Baylor takes on the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Saturday at McLane Stadium.