Daily Bears Report 12/17 - Weekend Edition

Saturday’s Events

Men's Basketball, vs Jackson State, at Ft. Hood, TX, 5:00 PM, Watch, Listen

Sunday’s Events

Men's Basketball, vs John Brown, in the Ferrell Center, 3:30 PM, Watch, Listen

Basketball

• For the second straight year, Scott Drew’s Baylor basketball team will show how much it appreciates the military by playing a game at Fort Hood. WacoTrib’s John Werner has the complete story at BearsExtra.

The No. 4 Bears will face Jackson State at 5 p.m. Saturday at Abrams Gym after romping to a 104-59 win over Hardin-Simmons last year.

Drew got the idea to play at Fort Hood after he brought his team to the Army base for a boot camp several years ago.

“It was three days of leadership training and physical training, and everything else that went into it,” Drew said. “I think our players really came back with a deep appreciation just what the military does for all of us. Since that time, we’ve thought about what ways we can give back and help them. Having a chance to play down there, I think that’s something our players really appreciate that opportunity to say thank you.”

The Baylor players enjoy making the hour-long trip to play in a unique environment in front of the soliders. In last year’s win over Hardin-Simmons, Johnathan Motley scored 23 points while Al Freeman hit 12 and Jake Lindsey 11.

“We’re actually on an Army base and playing in front of everybody that’s there,” said Baylor senior forward Ish Wainright. “Everybody comes, all the students come, all the parents, whoever’s in town, they’re all there. That’s amazing. That’s just us blessing them, because they don’t really get to see any games like we’re about to play.”

• It's difficult to imagine that there are two teams more diametrically opposed in their performance through the first month of this season than Baylor and Jackson State. From Yahoo Sports.

Fourth-ranked Baylor has ripped through an ambitious schedule, posting wins over then-No. 24 Michigan State and a trio of top-10 victories over Oregon, Louisville and Xavier.

When the Bears (9-0) weren't playing Top 25 opponents, they have demolished all comers. Baylor has won its games against non-ranked foes, including Florida Gulf Coast, Virginia Commonwealth and Sam Houston State, by an average of 19.2 points per game.

• Baylor has been one of the hottest teams in the country to start the season. From FanSided.

The Bears arguably have the strongest resume of any team in the nation thus far, beating Michigan State, Louisville, Oregon and Xavier already to jump to No. 4.

The Bears are looking to remain unbeaten and improve to 10-0 on the season with a win over an overwhelmingly inferior Jackson State team. This is the type of matchup that can get ugly very early on.

• No. 4 Baylor faces Jackson State in the first-ever matchup of Division I basketball teams at Fort Hood. TV: FOX Sports Southwest, Live Stream: FOX Sports Go. From Baylor Bears Dot com.

Saturday is the 8th series meeting. Baylor is 7-0 in the series with an average scoring margin of +26.3. The closest any game in the BU-JSU series has been was 14 points, a 63-49 BU win on Nov. 18, 2010.

Baylor’s No. 4 AP ranking ties the 2nd-best in program history. BU was No. 3 on Jan. 16, 2012.

Saturday is the 8th game in program history that the Bears entered with a top-5 ranking.

Baylor is one of six remaining undefeated DI teams (Baylor, Creighton, Gonzaga, UCLA, USC, Villanova). BU is 9-0 for the 5th time in program history and the first time since starting 17-0 in 2011-12.

The Bears host John Brown on Sunday and face Texas Southern on Wednesday in their last two non-conference games before opening Big 12 play on Dec. 30 at Oklahoma.

Baylor’s Little Sister, University of Mary Hardin Baylor Wins Div. III Football National Championship

• DIII College Football: Mary Hardin-Baylor wins its first ever DIII Football Championship. From NCAA dot com which has additional video.

The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor Crusaders defeat UW-Oshkosh 10-7 and win their first ever DIII Football National Championship. The Most Outstanding Player went to Blake Jackson who ended the game with 171 passing yards and 119 rushing yards.

• Blake Jackson knew that, more than usual, Mary Hardin-Baylor's fortunes were going to be in his control with the NCAA Division III title at stake. From ESPN.

The dual-threat quarterback embraced it, running for 119 yards and a touchdown and leading the Crusaders to a 10-7 victory over Wisconsin-Oshkosh in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl on Friday night for their first football national championship.

"I like the pressure. I like the challenge," the senior said. "Thank you to the coaches for believing in me."

Is This Just Collatoral Damage?

• Former Baylor football recruit Jeremy Faulk, who was kicked off the team at the height of the school's sexual assault scandal before the 2016 season ever started, remains uncertain about his future, even though a Title IX investigation involving him at Baylor has been suspended, and apparently will never see resolution. KWTX dot com has the complete story.

The defensive tackle has just been named the Junior College Defensive Player of the Year after winning a national championship at Garden City Community College in Garden City, Kan., but his brief stay at Baylor may have made him untouchable as far as major universities are concerned.

Faulk re-enrolled at Garden City, from which Baylor recruited him, after he was dismissed from the team and lost his scholarship, at least temporarily, after a report of a sexual assault that was never proved and never prosecuted.

Faulk's coach at Garden City, Jeff Sims, told KWTX that the staff had hoped Faulk would be able to transfer to another major college program, but said no one will touch him because "the name Baylor is scary to schools."

Baylor Football

• Dale Harsin’s drag racing car did not need to show up on Boise State’s practice field to get the Broncos to understand how fast Baylor is, even if his son jokingly suggested it. IdahoStatesman dot com has the complete story.

As Bryan Harsin’s team prepares to face Baylor in the Cactus Bowl on Dec. 27, one thing continues to be noticed when scouting the Bears’ offense.

“People have stolen components of what they’ve done — the first thing that stands out is speed,” Harsin said.

• Motel 6 Cactus Bowl, Boise State vs. Baylor, Spread: Boise State -7.5. This line feels low. From dfw dot cbslocal dot com.

Baylor has lost six straight games since starting the season 6-0, and the average margin of defeat in those games has been 17.5 points.

Boise State, while being a Group of 5 team, is certainly one of the better ones out there and they can shred a bad Baylor secondary (62nd in yards allowed with 223.9).

Brett Rypien has conducted a Broncos offense that rings up nearly 300 yards per game through the air (297.3, 16th) while running back Jeremy McNichols leads a rushing attack that averages 182 yards per game (57th) and 4.8 yards per carry.

Baylor, by the way, hasn’t been good against the run either giving up 210.5 yards per game which ranks 95th in the country.

NCAA Football 14 Pretend Bowl Series Game 12/27/2016 Boise State vs Baylor

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