Dec. 7, 2007
WACO, Texas - With a roster boasting five preseason All-America candidates, head coach Joey Scrivano released one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the Big 12 Conference Friday. The Bears finished last season as the No. 13 team in the nation and aim for a fourth straight Big 12 title.
Scrivano and the Bears kick things off in Honolulu, Hawai'i, Jan. 5-6 when Baylor faces Brigham Young and Hawaii, respectively. BYU earned a No. 26 ranking at the end of the 2007 season and is the first of 11 non-conference opponents to earn a top-40 ranking at season's end.
After returning to the mainland, the Bears play two matches against No. 3 UCLA and No. 17 Pepperdine before making their third consecutive appearance, fifth overall, at the USTA/ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championship in Madison, Wis. The 16-team tournament invites some of the nation's best competition in the nation with the 2008 field set to include Baylor, California, Clemson, Fresno State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Miami, North Carolina, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Southern California, Stanford, UCLA, William & Mary and Wisconsin.
Only the host team, Wisconsin, was unranked at the end of 2007, and the tournament includes defending NCAA national champions Georgia Tech.
Following the team indoor nationals, Baylor plays No. 9 Miami before hosting four straight ranked opponents. Baylor's home schedule kicks off Feb. 20 with No. 38 TCU and continues with No. 15 William & Mary (Feb. 23), No. 14 Fresno State (Feb. 29) and No. 20 Wake Forest (March 2).
"We've put together one of the toughest out of conference schedules of any team in the Big 12 this season." Scrivano said. "We want to play the best competition that we can and I feel our schedule does just that. Our non-conference schedule will challenge us every day we play as we work towards our ultimate goal of winning a national championship."
March 7 marks the Big 12 opener for Baylor as the Bears travel to Ames, Iowa, to face Iowa State before boarder jumping March 8 to take on Nebraska.
The Bears finish their non-conference schedule with matches against No. 4 Georgia (March 11), No. 39 Virginia (March 14), Mississippi (March 16) and No. 8 Northwestern (March 26).
Over the past three seasons, Baylor has posted a 22-1 record in Big 12 action with the Bears' only loss coming last season at Colorado. This season, the Buffs come to Waco and will be Baylor's first home Big 12 opponent of the year (March 28); the Bears round out the weekend with a match against Missouri (March 30).
April features an all-Big 12 schedule that pits the Bears against No. 25 Texas A&M (April 2), No. 59 Oklahoma State (April 13) and No. 27 Texas in the regular season finale April 18. Baylor also hits the road for matches against Kansas (April 5) and Kansas State (April 6) before hosting Oklahoma (April 11).
Texas A&M hosts the 2008 Big 12 Tournament; the Bears look to capture the tournament title for a third straight season.
NOTE: All rankings are based on the final ITA rankings from the 2007 season.
