1.16.2012 Daily Bears Report: Showdown in Lawrence and Weekly Honors for MBB

by Mark C. Moore on Jan 16, 2012 11:23 AM CST

Today's the day, ladies and gents. Tonight our #4-ranked men's basketball team takes on #10 Kansas in Lawrence. This will be the biggest test yet of our squad, which has run its season-opening winning streak to 17-0, and the first chance for Baylor to knock off a top-ten team.

Baylor fans are probably expecting our team to win the game tonight, but I want to remind you that Kansas is far from an easy place to win. As of this writing, Baylor is actually a 6 or 7 point underdog depending on which book you like. This will probably not be a walk in the park. Though Kansas is down this season from their typical level of talent, they have a good coach (as much as I hate to say it) and are still one of the best teams in our league. And they are playing at home against a team they've targeted all season. If Baylor wins this game, which will be on ESPN tonight starting at 8:30, that will easily be our biggest win to date.

On to the links:

Baylor Bears vs. Kansas Jayhawks - Preview - January 16, 2012 - ESPN
Jones III, Jackson Earn Big 12 Weekly Honors - Baylor Bears Official Athletic Site - BaylorBears.com- Baylor men's basketball sophomore Perry Jones III and junior Pierre Jackson were named Phillips 66 Big 12 Co-Player and Rookie of the Week, respectively, for games of Jan. 9-15 in voting by a panel of media covering the conference.
No. 4 MBB Readies for Top 10 Showdown at No. 10 Kansas - Baylor Bears Official Athletic Site - BaylorBears.com- No. 4/4 Baylor (17-0, 4-0) makes it second trip to the Sunflower State in six days when it visits No. 10/10 Kansas (14-3, 4-0) for an ESPNBig Monday showdown at Allen Fieldhouse.-- I clipped this yesterday, but it's a good preview so I'm posting it again. Deal with it.
College Basketball - KSN TV, Kansas News and Weather- The link doesn't say it, but it's a preview of the game from the Kansas side.
Conference Power Rankings: Big 12 - College Basketball Nation Blog - ESPN- As we get ready for Monday's showdown in Lawrence between Baylor and Kansas, here are this week’s Big 12 power rankings...
Baylor makes adjustments on road - KansasCity.com
Baylor Athletics: An Unrivaled Golden Era - Baylor Bears Official Athletic Site - BaylorBears.com- As the great novelist began his classic story about two cities, It was the best of times, it was the . . . But let us stop right there. This simply is the best of times for those who wear the green and gold of Baylor. No worst of times to it.-- I missed this yesterday in the late DBR, so I'm posting it now.
Griner season-high 32 as No. 1 Baylor women stay perfect in dominating Texas 77-59 - The Washington Post
College women's basketball: Griner, Baylor too much for Texas - southbendtribune.com- Brittney Griner turned in another dominant performance, tying her season high with 32 points to go with 13 rebounds as No. 1 Baylor stayed unbeaten Sunday with an easy 77-59 win over Texas.

Finally a little football news from SBNation's own Bill Connelly.

The 20 Best Surprises Of The 2011 College Football Season - SBNation.com- A look at the biggest happy surprises of the 2011 season, including Louisville, Kansas State, Whitney Mercilus, Terrance Ganaway and freshman receivers.

There is a rumor going around that Baylor will receive a commitment from a QB recruit currently committed to another school. No, I don't know who it is. Yes, I have been trying to find out for two days. All I know is that there was supposedly a QB recruit of some note on campus this weekend for an official visit and the staff doesn't want anyone to know his name. This is not unusual, particularly for a player committed to another school, at least not for Baylor.

If I hear anything I can share or any news breaks, as always I will bring it to your attention tout de suite (did you like that? I'm trying to class the blog up a little.).

In the comments, give me your predictions for Baylor vs. Kansas tonight! 8:30 PM on ESPN!

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Jason King from ESPN just posted ten pregame thoughts before tonight.

Definitely worth a read.

"The hotter the heat, the harder the steel. No pressure, no diamonds. We compete, we win. We are Baylor." - Robert Griffin III
OurDailyBears.com

by Mark C. Moore on Jan 16, 2012 11:39 AM CST reply actions

Nice.

Also, while I don’t entirely agree, I absolutely understand where he’s coming from:

Kansas still the favorite for the Big12 this year.

OurDailyBears.com

by Prashanth Francis on Jan 16, 2012 11:45 AM CST up reply actions

*he = John Gasaway.

I just realized that’s an Insider article, so here are some highlights:

KU’s depth is a concern … relatively speaking

What’s interesting, though, is that Self has kept his substitution patterns more or less the same — he just complains more about the guys he’s putting in the game. This season 74 percent of the available playing time has been logged by the Jayhawks’ top five players in terms of minutes played. That’s the same percentage seen from the Aldrich-Sherron Collins Kansas team that reached the 2009 Sweet 16. More to the point, it’s a very normal percentage….

Underestimate Jeff Withey at your peril

If there’s a poster child for these 2011-12 Kansas Jayhawks, it’s Withey….Withey might not get his own line of shoes named after him, but if he can sustain his current level of performance, he’ll go down as perhaps the best shot-blocker Self has had in Lawrence…he’s surely one reason Big 12 opponents have made just 38 percent of their 2s against the Jayhawks. Nor can opponents necessarily count on getting Withey into foul trouble.

OurDailyBears.com

by Prashanth Francis on Jan 16, 2012 11:50 AM CST up reply actions

Love this:

Win or lose tonight, it’s time to end the "Scott-Drew-can’t-coach" theory. Anyone who watched Baylor beat Kansas State realizes that’s simply a false statement… Poorly-coached teams don’t shoot 49 percent from the field. Poorly coaches teams don’t play as well as the Bears have played defensively this season, and poorly-coached teams don’t flounder in tight games. They flourish. No one is going to confuse Drew with Mike Krzyzewski or Rick Pitino, but to say the only reason Baylor is winning is because it has good players is simply false

OurDailyBears.com

by Prashanth Francis on Jan 16, 2012 1:35 PM CST up reply actions