Baylor Basketball is Disrespected in Latest Big 12 Basketball Power Rankings
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CBS Sports analyst and host of Inside College Basketball, John Rothstein, recently posted his Big 12 Power Rankings on social media, and it has generated some fiery reactions.
The Baylor Bears landed in the top ten for Rothstein, but that's it, being ranked as the tenth best team exactly.
While Baylor probably doesn't deserve a top 5 ranking following their rather poor 2025 season, ranking a Scott Drew squad this low is disrespectful, especially after seeing the offseason additions he has made.
OSU and WVU at 7 and 8 is questionable
The West Virginia Mountaineers outperformed the Baylor Bears in conference last season with a 9-9 record in the conference, even though the Bears won the matchup on the road. The Mountaineers also went on to win the college basketball crown while Baylor fell short in the same postseason tournament.
Oklahoma State, on the other hand, tied with the Bears in the Big 12 at 6-12 last season. But the squad hasn't made a particularly big splash in the offseason thus far.
Scott Drew and the Bears have more NCAA tournament appearances in the last ten years than OSU and WVU combined, having two and five, respectively, while Baylor has only missed once.
Yes, Baylor had a bad season last year, but it is a historical outlier while teams like the Mountaineers and the Cowboys continued in their middle-of-the-pack ways.
Baylor's offseason should have pushed their ranking higher
Baylor has made some phenomenal additions through the transfer portal after losing their two stars Tounde Yessoufou to the portal, and Cameron Carr to the NBA Draft.
Not only that, but they retained seven players compared to the previous offseason's zero players. This mix of new blood and continuity hopefully proves to be a better formula for the upcoming season.
Baylor lost some talent, but it was quickly replaced with a five-star and proven Power-Four school talent. Not to mention Scott Drew isn't done; he is still pursuing talent in top-40 guard Tyrone Jamison.
Names like Dylan Mingo, Isaac Celiscar, and Kayden Mingo should build enough hype around the program to push them higher in the conference rankings.
Time will tell
Obviously. It is very early, even for a pre-season ranking. Rosters are still not complete, and Big 12 basketball is nearly impossible to predict.
It is hard to believe that Baylor will have back-to-back poor seasons, but anything is possible; there is strong evidence to believe in this team to have some strong conference play and make it back to the NCAA tournament, where Scott Drew belongs.
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Bennett is an undergrad student at Baylor University, studying journalism on the sports track. He is from the DFW area and grew up playing and watching sports, which inspired him to pursue sports writing.
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