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There's Baylor football at Floyd Casey tomorrow, and that's nothing short of awesome.
Though one could call tomorrow's game a grudge-match or a search for redemption, the teams on the field have very different personnel from last year's high-flying shootout. WVU has announced that junior Clint Trickett will start for the Mountaineers against Baylor tomorrow after suffering an injury in West Virginia's upset win over Oklahoma State. The improved WVU defense will be attempting to stop a team that seeks to redefine "speed," while Baylor's own "not-quite-irrelevant" defense looks to continue their continued growth. Finally, West Virginia's top running back will be playing closer to home this week, as Charles Sims returns to Texas after transferring from the University of Houston to improve his draft potential.
Men's basketball comes in at No. 29 in Scott Gleason's (USA Today) preseason breakdown of the projected NCAA March Madness field. The 2013 NIT champions improved their level of play late in the year, but the real test for the Bears will be integrate new guards into the squad after the graduation of Pierre Jackson. Isaiah Austin has been cleared to return after off-season shoulder surgery. Austin and Cory Jefferson were named to the preseason All-Big 12 team, marking the first time the Bears have had two players such honored.
No. 20 soccer finishes their six-game home stand with a match versus No. 22 BYU tonight at Betty Lou Mays Field. The Bears will attempt to rebound from their season's first loss against West Virginia last weekend and finish the home stand with a 4-1-1 record.
16th-ranked Patrick Pradella and 38th-ranked Julian Lenz both advanced in the main draw singles competition at the ITA All-American Championship yesterday, while the doubles pair of Mate Zsiga and Diego Galeano won their first round match as well. Lenz upset No. 28 Esben Hess-Olesen of North Carolina 7-6(4), 7-5, and Pradella defeated Jordan Vliegen of East Carolina 7-5, 3-6, 6-1. All four Bears will continue competition today.
Ema Burgic, Baylor women's tennis' sole representative in the Riviera/ITA All-American singles main draw, won in straight sets yesterday to advance to the next round of competition. Though Burgic and her doubles partner, Victoria Kisialeva, fell in the first round of doubles play, they will play a consolation game today.
Finally, Texas won their second conference game last night, defeating Iowa State by one point, late, despite a possible fumble that was ruled down on the field. ISU head coach Paul Rhoads disagreed, loudly, in his post-game press conference.
UPDATE: Glasco Martin's family is conducting a fundraiser for his brother, Desi, who suffers from a very rare bone marrow disease known as "Aplastic Anemia." This morning, the Big 12 Conference approved the fundraiser as reported by Baylor's Compliance Office on twitter, meaning that fans who choose to donate need not fear NCAA trouble for Glasco. That's good news.
I'm seriously considered doing a separate post for this, since despite the fact that Desi is a student at Texas Tech, the Martin family is part of the larger Baylor family. I'll be sharing this info with our TT brethren over at Viva The Matadors, and maybe we get something going together. I'll keep you guys posted.