Pop Quiz: SicEm staff offers opinions, answers about Baylor sports
Welcome to Pop Quiz, a weekly test on Baylor sports taken by SicEm365 insiders. There are no wrong answers here, although some responses may leave you scratching your head. We may venture off topic at times, but hey … you may end up with a good barbecue recommendation because of it.
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The most influential alumnus/fan of Baylor sports is ___
Brian Ethridge: Paul Foster. Money, power, great humanitarian, —and he just seems like a guy to go have a beer with in Terlingua or Boquilles.
Grayson Grundhoefer: Chip and Joanna Gaines. They have completely changed the city of Waco forever and really put it on the map. Plus they brought such a good image to Baylor in a time when there was a major need for it. These two are a dynamic duo who have helped keep Baylor relevant nationally.
Ashley Hodge: Chris Fuentes. I'm not big on celebrity worship. I think it is great that Baylor has its share of "famous" alumni, but they only attend a fraction of the games. Chris Fuentes has attended every home football and men's basketball game since 1999. He has seen a lot of bad football and basketball early on in that streak. Chris is on my Mount Rushmore of Baylor fans.
Jason King: Robert Griffin III. At a time when so many questioned whether Baylor even belonged in the Big 12, Griffin and Art Briles proved that the Bears could do more than simply compete in the league. They could run it. Griffin may have been gone by the time Baylor started winning Big 12 titles, but the standard he set paved the way for those championship teams’ success. And his Heisman Trophy did more for the school’s brand—and the city of Waco—than anything in recent history at that time. Griffin (and Briles) are the main reasons McLane Stadium exists today. His name will always be one of the first that comes to mind when people mention Baylor.
The Baylor linebacker I can’t wait to see this season is ___
Brian Ethridge: William Bradley-King. JACK is a hybrid, but I want to see him bring the pain to the Big 12, as many think the loss of Lynch, Roy and Lockhart is going to bring the Baylor “D” back to earth.
Grayson Grundhoefer: William Bradley-King. The Arkansas State grad transfer racked up 23 tackles for loss and 13.5 sacks over the last two seasons. The Bears need a consistent pass rusher who can create negative plays, that is what WBK can bring to the table. Plus I think he is good enough to be an All-Big 12 performer and an NFL Draft pick so the expectations are very high for him.
Ashley Hodge: Tough question, because I'm excited to watch so many of them. I know what Bernard, Jones, Pitre bring to the table. I'm excited to watch Doyle along with the development of Abram Smith, Bryson Jackson and Will Williams. But William Bradley King is the one I can't wait to watch. Aranda defenses tend to spread the wealth with "sacks" but WBK is the guy that will probably end up getting the most attention from offenses. He has the potential to be a game-changer for Baylor.
Jason King: Matt Jones. There was so much talk about him during his redshirt season last fall and also during spring ball. But he’s been overshadowed a bit because of the hype surrounding the arrival of William Bradley-King and Dillon Doyle. I’m not sleeping on Jones, though. I love the Odessa Permian grad’s size (6-foot-3, 240 pounds) and build.
David Smoak: Terrel Bernard, even though he's getting a ton of pre-season hype, well earned after what he did replacing Clay Johnston, I want to watch and see if he'll take over games. And, so impressed how the week after Johnston went out, Bernard with nine tackles and a scoop and score fumble return for a touchdown at Oklahoma State.
After Oklahoma, the best team in the Big 12 this season will be ___
Brian Ethridge: I'm not sure Oklahoma is the best team, despite the hype. Rattler hasn't done it against a defense like Baylor, ISU, etc.
Grayson Grundhoefer: Texas. This is a really tough one because I think ISU, OSU, and Texas are all going to be right there with similar records but I’ll go with the Longhorns because it’s now or never. This is the year with all the returning talent and a senior quarterback, if Tom Herman can’t win with this team then I would be shocked if he is given many more chances to prove himself.
Ashley Hodge: Texas, I hate to even speak it. But I think you have to consider Texas and OU the teams to beat based on returning talent. You know what they say about talent and potential though. I could see Baylor, Iowa State and Oklahoma State crashing the party and possibly TCU if they figure out the quarterback situation.
Jason King: I wanted to say Texas, but then I remembered how the Longhorns fall short of expectations each and every year. I’ve learned not to overhype them. Or frankly, hype them at all. So instead I’ll go with Oklahoma State. Those skill players are incredible and Mike Gundy does a great job. The Cowboys might even have a shot at beating OU for the Big 12 title;
David Smoak: Oklahoma State, they're more than three players, but the decisions by Chuba Hubbard and Tylan Wallace to return for another year was huge. And, Spencer Sanders has another year under his belt. The Mike Gundy OAN tee-shirt controversy could've sent the team into a spiral, but Gundy stabilized the ship and perhaps that galvanized the program.
The BIg 12 basketball coach most on the hot seat entering the 2020-21 season is ___
Brian Ethridge: He resides in Austin. That seat has to be hot after the Longhorns fired a women’s basketball coach with a better record.
Grayson Grundhoefer: Kansas State head coach Bruce Weber. He lost one of the most talented groups of seniors in Wildcats history and went 11-21 in 2019-2020 because of it. He has to figure out a way to get things back on track next season and I don’t think that is going to be easy since I project them to be in the bottom three of the conference again next year. Kansas State was looking for reasons to get rid of him for a while and back to back under .500 seasons could do the trick.
Ashley Hodge: Shaka Smart, 100 percent. Shaka is 40-50 in Big12 play, even though he is an elite recruiter. He was probably going to miss the tourney last season, which would have been the third time in five years that he didn't go. The two years he made it at Texas, they got bounced in the first round. For reference, Rick Barnes made the NCAA tourney at Texas 16 out of 17 years. If Shaka misses the tourney this year, sayonara.
Jason King: There are two names here—and neither of them is Shaka Smart, who should be safe as long as the Longhorns don’t completely fall flat, which I don’t believe they will. Bruce Weber is the first person that comes to mind, but since Grayson already wrote about his situation so eloquently, I’ll go with Steve Prohm. Iowa State has gone a combined 18-26 in the Big 12 under Prohm the past three seasons, with a 10th place finish in 2018 and a ninth place finish last season. He’s never led the team past the Sweet 16. That won’t cut it in Ames, where Cyclones fans are accustomed to a higher level of success.
My favorite dessert is ___
Brian Ethridge: Key lime pie. Can't beat the tart taste and crumbly crust.
Grayson Grundhoefer: Cheesecake. The Cheesecake Factory is the place with my favorite deserts. So many options and all the ones I have tried are so good. If I go anywhere else then normal NY Cheesecake is the go to.
Ashley Hodge: Right now, I'm on the So Delicious mini ice cream sandwiches. Coconut milk, only 100 calories and I like some ice cream on a summer day. Honorable mention is white chunk macadamia cookies. I'm a sucker for those.
Jason King: Carrot cake, coconut cream pie, thick chocolate chip cookies with M&Ms or Pralines and Cream ice cream are near the top of the list. But lately I’ve been addicted to Bahama Bucks shaved ice here in Frisco. I waited in the drive-thru line for 45 minutes Sunday evening for a medium strawberry colada—and I’d do it again.
David Smoak: Chocolate Ice Cream, it's my kryptonite, end of story.