Predicting the outcome and score for Baylor football's final three games

Seeing if and when Baylor will qualify for a bowl game

Nov 1, 2025; Waco, Texas, USA; Baylor Bears defensive lineman Cooper Lanz (9) celebrates a sack with teammates during the second half against the UCF Knights at McLane Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images | Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

Following Baylor's dominant victory versus UCF on Saturday, the vibes in Waco are higher than they've been in recent weeks after deflating losses against Cincinnati and rival TCU. While the Knights aren't a top-flight conference opponent, seeing that type of defensive performance from the Bears has to be encouraging after that side of the ball has been getting picked on all year. So, with only three games left in the season, and the Bears needing at least one win for bowl eligibility and two to secure a winning record, I've decided to give my thoughts on Baylor's final three contests, and a score prediction on how I see each one turning out.

Prediction vs. Utah: L, 34-17

The Utes, like the Bears, will be going into their matchup against the Bears coming off a bye week and a dominant performance the week before. The similarities continue with both wins coming by way of a suffocating defensive performance. However, the variance starts with level of competition. While Baylor allowed just three point to a UCF team with just one conference win, the Utes throttled high-riding Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby, the national leader in touchdowns going into Week 8. Sorsby turned the ball over twice while completing just 11 of his 33 passes as the Bearcats would post just 14 points.

The Utes have a top-10 passing defense, centered around their ability to consistently harass opposing quarterbacks. They've totaled 25 sacks on the year, led by conference defensive player of the year candidate John Henry Daley and his 9.5 sacks. Between the defense, two bookend tackles to shove around a suspect Baylor defensive front, and a quarterback and a running back both in the top 13 in rushing in the Big 12, I could see this one getting ugly.

Prediction at Arizona: L, 38-34

The Wildcats have been somewhat of a surprise this year, dragging a ranked BYU in overtime in Tucson and being generally competitive in conference throughout the entire conference slate. That turnaround could almost be entirely credited to the resurgence of senior quarterback Noah Fifita. Fifita broke out as a sophomore in 2023, leading the Wildcats to seven wins down the stretch, an AP ranking, and a bowl victory over Oklahoma in the Pac-12's final season. However, Fafita led the Big 12 in interceptions last season and barely ended up completing 60 percent of his passes.

With Fafita back to his old self, he and the Wildcats won't blink at the idea of a potential shootout with the Bears. Looking at shared opponents, Arizona dominated an Oklahoma State team that the Bears struggled with in the first half, and they didn't need a second-half double-digit comeback to beat Kansas State. While the Wildcat defense may not be as stout as the Utes, the combination of an offense equipped to go blow-for-blow with Sawyer Robertson & Co, and still surrendering less than 20 points a game, may be too much for the Bears to overcome on the road.

Prediction vs. Houston: W, 35-31

Similar to the Wildcats, Houston has seemingly already surpassed preseason expectations in their second year under former Tulane head man Willie Fritz. Texas A&M transfer quarterback Connor Weigman has reminded people why he was a five-star high school prospect, and this team has a better win than the Bears do this season, going into Tempe and knocking off the reigning conference champions in Arizona State.

However, they followed that performance up with the worst possible loss a Big 12 can take, a 45-35 home loss to Rich Rodriguez's West Virginia squad. But even beyond that, the context of this game will matter even more. This could potentially be the last college game in the careers of Josh Cameron, Ashtyn Hawkins, Sawyer Robertson, and Michael Trigg, along with a host of other Baylor seniors.

You can almost throw out the records when these inner-state battles happen, and between the final time for Baylor seniors to play in front of their home fans, and the pride factor in not wanting to be responsible for the firing of Dave Aranda, I don't see a scenario where these Baylor seniors allow this to be a loss in the season finale.

More From Baylor On SI:

• Updated Power Ranking of Baylor QB Sawyer Robertson after strong performance vs. UCF
• Top 5 Baylor football commit sets visit to Texas Tech this weekend
• The ranking of Baylor’s final three football games according to difficulty
• Baylor guard Cameron Carr receiving NBA praise following breakout game on Monday