Baylor working to stiffen schedule
IRVING — One of college football’s weakest non-conference schedules might soon be upgraded.
Baylor athletic director Ian McCaw said he is in discussions with several potential foes to spruce up the future schedules of the Bears, whose anemic 2014 non-conference slate was one of their biggest liabilities when they unsuccessfully attempted to crack the four-team College Football Playoff.
Despite the Bears’ 11-1 record in the regular season, their non-conference schedule of SMU, Northwestern State and Buffalo was continually downgraded by CFP chairman Jeff Long. In picking the fourth team for the playoff field, the selection committee chose Ohio State, which also had one loss but won the Big Ten Championship Game and played a tougher non-conference schedule.
That led McCaw to be more aggressive in trying to lock up future games against foes from the Power Five conferences. Baylor hasn’t played a non-conference Power Five opponent in the regular season since winning at Wake Forest in 2009.
“We have two or three conversations going on for games in the next decade or so,” McCaw said Thursday at the Big 12’s spring meetings. “I would expect we might add some additional games with a (Power Five) conference team.”
McCaw also said adjustments could be seen in Baylor’s schedule between now and 2020 to toughen schedules that include opponents such as Lamar (2015), Northwestern State (2016), Liberty (2017), UTSA (2017-19), Incarnate Word (2019) and Louisiana Tech (2020-22).
Possibilities include neutral-site games against a Power Five foe both inside and outside the state.
“We are having some interesting discussions right now,” McCaw said.
One place those games will not be played is AT&T Stadium in Arlington. The Bears already have an annual game scheduled there against Texas Tech.
Baylor’s change in scheduling philosophy is a result of its back-to-back Big 12 championships in 2013 and 2014 (the latter shared with TCU).
“When we were in the midst of a 14-year bowl drought, our scheduling philosophy was let’s try to find six wins, because we need to end that drought,” McCaw said. “Obviously, as we’ve won back-toback championships and been at a national stage of recruiting and having McLane Stadium in place, we’re able to take on a higher level of competition. That’s what we’re looking for.”
The Bears already have upcoming non-conference games against Duke in 2018 and 2019 and Utah in 2023 and 2024.
Even Baylor coach Art Briles has endorsed the idea of toughening the Bears’ schedule.
“I think it was largely the development of our program,” McCaw said. “We’re in a different place than we were.”
In other business, the Big 12 set Kansas City’s Sprint Center for the men’s basketball tournament from 2017 through 2020. Pending further negotiations, baseball tournaments from 2017 to 2020 and women’s basketball tournaments from 2017 to 2019 will return to Oklahoma City.