The offseason was a really tough one for the Baylor Bears. They were rocked with scandals off the field, and that caused the abrupt resignation of Art Briles, the most accomplished coach in the history of the program. Now with Jim Grobe in charge, he'll hope to keep up the tradition of what has become one of the prouder programs in the Big XII in recent years.
Baylor Bears Regular Season Win Total Odds at BookMaker.eu
Baylor Over 9.5 Wins ( +165 )
Baylor Under 9.5 Wins ( -205 )
Baylor has it rough in terms of returning starters from last year's team. Quarterback Seth Russell is back, as are both 1,000-yard rushers from a year ago, Shock Linwood and Johnny Jefferson. That's about where the riches come to an end, though. The Bears only have five starters back on both sides of the ball. They've got some depth on offense and should once again have a Top 20 offense for the most part, but their defense has some real holes in it and could be exploited.
The real harm on defense comes along the defensive line, where there isn't a single returning starter from last year. The Bears have never really been known for their pass rush, and this could be an even bigger problem with an entirely new line coming in for the 2016 season.
2016 Baylor Bears Football Schedule
September 3 – vs. Northwestern State
September 10 – vs. SMU
September 17 – at Rice
September 24 – vs. Oklahoma State
October 1 – at Iowa State
October 15 – vs. Kansas
October 29 – at Texas
November 5 – vs. TCU
November 12 – at Oklahoma
November 19 – vs. Kansas State
November 25 – vs. Texas Tech (in Arlington)
December 3 – at West Virginia
There's a really good chance that Baylor is going to be a 7-0 team heading into November. The only potential trips on the docket are home games against Oklahoma State and roadies against Iowa State and Rice, and we really don't think that these games should end up being all that challenging.
When the schedule turns to November though, look out. Over the course of the last five weeks of the season, Baylor has to deal with TCU, Oklahoma, Kansas State, Texas Tech and West Virginia, and any of those games could end up being lost. The games on the road against OU and WVU are the ones which really feel like the biggest issues.
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There are a lot of unknowns when it comes to Baylor this year. Will the program continue to run this run-and-gun offense which Briles was known for? Or will Grobe slow down the pace and try to give what is always an exhausted defense a chance to excel? And will there be any further hangovers from the off-the-field problems?
Here's what we do know, though. Grobe can coach. He turned dinky Wake Forest into an ACC contender for a few years, including beating mighty Florida State in a few instances. With Russell presumably healthy again, this offense is going to have its star players for sure. Yes, Corey Coleman is gone, but every time a receiver leaves this program, another one seems to step up in his place. The Bears won't have an empty cupboard from that perspective.
With the easy early docket, Baylor feels like a 10-win team to us in the regular season. A 10-2 mark feels just about right, and we wouldn't be overly shocked if the Bears managed to pull off an upset or two on the road along the way to be Big XII title contenders as well. A New Year's Six game isn't out of the question.
College Football Odds: Baylor Bears Over 9.5 Wins
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