Baylor says a tougher nonconference schedule is in the works
Baylor football is looking to beef up its nonconference schedules after rampant criticism last year that their nonconference slate wasn’t on par with some of the other highly ranked teams in the country.
“We’re in a different spot than we were when we scheduled the teams last year and this year,” Baylor athletic director Ian McCaw said per the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “Obviously, as we’ve won back-to-back Big 12 championships and our program’s on the national stage and we’re recruiting at an extremely high level, we’re able to take on a higher level of competition.”
As the College Football Playoff started to work itself out last season, Baylor was often criticized for its weak nonconference schedule, which included SMU, Northwestern (La.) State and Buffalo. Those three teams went 12-23 last season. Many pundits believed Baylor’s nonconference slate was the reason it was left out of the playoff.
McCaw said the school has had several discussions with different programs and said it wouldn’t shy away from playing other Power Five schools, though not every year. The way the Big 12 is currently set up, teams play every other team in the conference giving each what is essentially nine Power Five games during their 12-game slate. However, that hasn’t stopped other Big 12 programs from scheduling Power Five opponents in the nonconference. For example, Oklahoma played Tennessee last year and TCU played Minnesota. While neither of those teams is among the best in their respective conferences, they are still better than what Baylor has on its upcoming slates.
The Bears play the Mustangs, Lamar and Rice this coming season. Future schedules include Northwestern (La.) State (2016), Liberty (2017), UTSA (2017-19), Abilene Christian (2018), Incarnate Word (2019) and Louisiana Tech (2020-22).
McCaw didn’t want to speculate as to when games against Power Five opponents might be added, but said that it could be in the near future. He also didn’t rule out neutral site games, but stressed that the Bears would not play a game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas in the same year when they played Texas Tech there. However, games in Houston and San Antonio were still on the table.
Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby said he welcomed Baylor’s willingness to revamp its schedule.
“I think the better schedules we can play in nonconference, the better off we are,” Bowlsby said. “Our top teams, we want to make sure that we’re matching up against the best in the country because that’s the way you demonstrate that you deserve to be in the playoff. I think every one of our institutions has a contribution to make. Those are local decisions. But we’re naïve if we don’t think they impact the rest of the people in our league.”
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