Oct. 9, 2014 IRVING, Texas - Baylor men's basketball has been picked to finish sixth in the Big 12 Conference preseason poll. The Bears received 36 points and were tied with West Virginia for the sixth slot, trailing Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas State and Iowa State, respectively.
This marks only the second time in the last seven seasons that the Bears have been projected outside of the top four, and the only previous time was 2010, when the Bears were picked 10th and ended up advancing to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight.
Head coach Scott Drew is entering his 12th season at Baylor as the program's all-time wins leader. He's the youngest of 11 coaches nationally to have guided his current team to three Sweet 16 appearances in the last five seasons. The Bears' 17-4 postseason record over the last six years is the nation's second best, trailing only Connecticut.
The Bears rebounded from a 2-8 start to Big 12 play to win seven of their last eight league games a season ago. That run continued in postseason play, with the Bears winning three straight games to advance to the Big 12 Championship title game, and BU went on to win a pair of NCAA Tournament games before falling in the Sweet 16.
Baylor returns five letterwinners and two starters from last year's 26-12 team. Seniors Royce O'Neale and Kenny Chery are back, along with juniors Rico Gathers and Taurean Prince and sophomore Ishmail Wainright. The Bears also expect significant contributions from redshirt freshmen Johnathan Motley and Allerik Freeman, as well as four members of the 2014 signing class in Lester Medford, Deng Deng, T.J. Maston and Damiyne Durham.
Kansas was picked first in the league with six first-place votes and 78 points, followed closely by Texas with three first-place votes and 74 points. Oklahoma received the other first-place vote and was picked third with 67 points, followed by Kansas State in fourth with 53 points and Iowa State in fifth with 51 points. Baylor and West Virginia tied for sixth with 36 points. Oklahoma State was tabbed eighth with 27 points, TCU was picked ninth with 15 points and Texas Tech was selected 10th with 13 points.
Big 12 Conference Men's Basketball Media Day is scheduled for Oct. 15 at Sprint Center in Kansas City, site of the 2015 Phillips 66 Men's Basketball Championship. Live coverage will be available at Big12Sports.com.
Baylor opens the 2014-15 season on Nov. 14 when it hosts McNeese State at the Ferrell Center. That game will tip off at 8:30 p.m. CT and be televised on FOX Sports Southwest-Plus.
For season tickets, call the Baylor Athletics Ticket Office at 254-710-1000, or visit www.BaylorBears.com/tickets for more information. For daily updates, follow the official Twitter feed of Baylor Basketball, @BaylorMBB.
2014-15 BIG 12 PRESEASON POLL
1. Kansas (6) - 78
2. Texas (3) - 74
3. Oklahoma (1) - 67
4. Kansas State - 53
5. Iowa State - 51
t6. Baylor - 36
t6. West Virginia - 36
8. Oklahoma State - 27
9. TCU - 15
10. Texas Tech - 13
