Baylor Basketball: How Far Can the Bears Go in '11-12?

Baylor has won their first eight games for the first time under coach Scott Drew, who is in his 9th season in Waco.

The Bears have a +23 scoring margin, which may be "fools gold" considering the strength of a majority of their early schedule.

But Drew's crew has been putting the pieces together in the first month of the '11-12 season with nice wins against San Diego State and on the road against previously unbeaten Northwestern.

The Bears have not had much time to figure out who's going to be their best line-up.

Leading scorer Perry Jones III (15.7 ppg; 5.3 rpg) missed the first five games of the season.

Fab Frosh forward Quincy Miller (12.3 ppg; 5.6 rpg; 46.7 3-pt percentage) is finding his place on a roster that may have as much front-court depth as any team in the country.

Solid seniors Quincy Acy (12 ppg; 7.6 rpg) and Anthony Jones (9.1 ppg; 5.1 rpg) continue to help anchor the middle.

Transfers Pierre Jackson (11.9 ppg; 4.4 apg) and Brady Heslip (8.8 ppg) are getting their feet on the ground. 

Also, Gary Franklin, a transfer from Cal, becomes eligible at the semester.

Looking at their early stats, the Bears do not have any trouble scoring. As they move towards their Big 12 schedule, one of the big questions is: "How good can this team be on the other end of the court?"

Baylor has great length and athleticism. They should be able to pull out all of the stops in terms of applying pressure and getting after other teams.

They should match-up well against both Kansas and Texas A&M in Big 12 play. It will be interesting to see how the Bears attack Missouri, who successfully plays "small ball" this season.

This coming weekend will be their most challenging test to date as they travel to Provo to take on BYU.

Even though the Cougars are Jimmer-less, they are still a team that moves the ball and shoots it well (48.6 percent from the field - No. 24 in the nation).

The rowdy Marriot Center crowd will present an atmosphere that the Bears have not experienced yet this season.

Time will certainly tell, but this Baylor team has everything it needs to make as deep of a run as the Bears' 2010 Elite Eight squad.

By season's end, PJ3 and Miller may be the best forward combo in the nation.

If so, don't be surprised if you see Baylor making the trip to New Orleans for the 2012 Final Four.