2013-2014 Baylor Men's Basketball Schedule

At first glance, this is a solid schedule. It should positively influence our RPI ranking at the end of the year. While it does come with tough non-conference opponents, an ample (and by ample I mean - we will not play an official away game during non-conference) amount of home and neutral court games should help balance the difficulty.

With a total of 30 games on the schedule, I plan on starting a 30 day countdown leading up to the opener against Colorado previewing each game from a preseason outlook including a scouting report, thoughts on the flow of the game and a prediction. Would love to discuss each one with you all in the comments, so stay tuned!

As for a preliminary analysis here is what I see:

TOUGHEST STRETCH

After a relatively easy first three games in Big XII play, Baylor has a run of games against Oklahoma, at Kansas, Texas, West Virginia, at OSU, Kansas and at Oklahoma that will ultimately either prove or dismantle this team. Of course, I'm looking at this from the opinion that OU, WVU and UT will be the most improved teams this year in the Big XII.

EASIEST STRETCH

After Kentucky on December 6 in the house that Jerry built, Baylor plays 4 games against Savannah St., Northwestern St., Southern, and Oral Roberts - all at home. Then, the first three games in January are against teams that will be fighting for 8th place in the Big XII this year: at Iowa St., vs. TCU, at Texas Tech. While I do see the ORU game being a bit of a trap game for us, this is the softest part of the schedule that I hope is either A) A chance to regroup after a couple of tough losses earlier in the non-conference schedule or B) A continuation of momentum heading into the middle stretch of Big XII play.

THE SPOTLIGHT

Baylor has sixteen games on national broadcast stations, two of which are Big Monday showings. All Big XII games are on the Big XII network

DFW

Baylor plays three different games in the DFW area this year. Colorado in the American Airlines Center to start the season, Kentucky in the building formerly known as Cowboys Stadium (One day before Baylor Football takes on UT in the final game at Floyd Casey), and TCU in Ft. Worth. I mention this tidbit a bit selfishly, as I live in Dallas and this fact is awesome.

MUST SEE GAMES

Obviously, the two Big Monday games (at Kansas and vs. OSU) are necessary viewing for all Baylor fans, as well as the Kentucky game. If I were to rank the top 5:

5) Baylor vs. Gonzaga (if this happens) 4) at Texas 3) Kentucky at AT&T Stadium 2) vs. OSU on Big Monday 1) at Kansas on Big Monday

What do you think of our schedule?