Baylor Bears Will Claw Their Way To March Madness Respect

The 21st/22nd (ESPN/AP)-ranked Baylor Bears have arrived at a crossroads in their 2009-10 campaign. After battling through the Big 12 for 16 games and securing the highest conference tournament seeding in BU history, this team and its fans have a rare chance to reflect on success before gearing up for Kansas City.

As a longtime Baylor fan—and masochist, I suppose (it comes with the territory)—I have tried to rationalize the underachieving performances of many of our major sports teams with friends, family, and anyone willing to pretend that our existence in the Big 12 is important for something other than women’s whiffle ball. 

For once, I don’t have to explain anything.

It’s about time.

Granted, the media continue to bring up the Dennehy scandal and the university’s progress from a horrible situation that left the athletic program in shambles etc., etc., ad nauseum.  And ESPN watchers everywhere know that the program has come a long way. 

As a result, Baylor has taken its fair share of back pats and backhanded compliments. Hopefully, that will all go away soon.  

But this season isn’t about baby-step progress.  It’s about winning.  It’s about being elite. 

Associating the word “elite” with Baylor athletics will no doubt draw some smirks from outsiders.  But chances are, Baylor beat your team this year.  And this is a rare shot at gaining serious momentum at a school that has beaten down for too long.

Going to the NCAA tournament in 2008 was great and all—it showed that Baylor athletics actually has a pulse—but to everyone who isn’t a Baylor fan, the recent “success” is two or three standard deviations away from where Baylor should be as a program—and it's unlikely to continue at this level.  

That’s why there’s talk about Coach Drew leaving for bigger and better things.  That’s why there’s talk about unethical recruiting.  That’s why our players play second fiddle to Kansas, Kansas State, Texas, and Texas A&M’s athletes in this year’s Big 12 awards.   That’s why the Bears are tied for second in the Big 12 with an RPI of 8 and yet continue to be ranked in the 20s nationally in both polls.

And that’s why Baylor will need to make a statement in the NCAA tournament this year.  At some point as a program, you have to do something to force the world to sit up and pay attention—and beating a crappy Texas team twice isn’t good enough.

The Bears need to lock down a No. 4 seed or better—and then go knock the teeth out of a few NCAA tournament teams.  Is the idea of winning a tournament game really that crazy?  Or two games?  Or three games?  This team has won seven of its last eight games in the hardest conference in the nation. 

And they’ve methodically picked enough monkeys off of their backs to sell out a banana convention—including the sweeps of three Big 12 South teams.  Who cares if Oklahoma, Tech, and Texas are down?  This team is doing what last year’s couldn’t until the postseason—beating the teams they’re supposed to beat and then pulling off a couple of surprises. 

And they’ve got the Big Mo.

Optimism is the downfall of any Baylor fan—but in this moment of reflection, you can’t help but smile at what could be during the next few weeks.  It’s a good time to be a Baylor Bear.

Now let’s all say a prayer of thanks for Drew’s discovery of zone defense.  Amen.

This article originally appeared on: Bear Crawl.

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