Baylor Bears Face Fork in the Road in 2023

Baylor Bears Face Fork in the Road in 2023

The 2022 season was a profound College Football betting setback for the Baylor Bears. Especially coming on the heels of a tremendous comeback season in 2021 for head coach Dave Aranda. Correlate that Aranda arrived in 2020, just as the pandemic hit. He stepped into the big shoes of Matt Rhule, who went 11-3 and led Baylor to the Sugar Bowl the previous season. Aranda could not implement his system and playbook in 2020 because of pandemic restrictions. As a result, the Bears never had a chance and finished 2-7.

College Football Team Preview 2023 Baylor Bears

Odds to Win National Championship:+20000
Odds to win Big 12 Championship:+1700
Over/Under Win Total:7.5

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2023 Baylor Bears Schedule

  • Aug 26 OPEN DATE
  • Sept 2 Texas State
  • Sept 9 Utah
  • Sept 16 Long Island
  • Sept 23 Texas
  • Sept 30 at UCF
  • Oct 7 Texas Tech
  • Oct 14 OPEN DATE
  • Oct 21 at Cincinnati
  • Oct 28 Iowa State
  • Nov 4 Houston
  • Nov 11 at Kansas State
  • Nov 18 at TCU
  • Nov 25 West Virginia

2023 Baylor Bears Preview

As mentioned earlier, coach Dave Aranda had a catastrophic start at Baylor. However, in 2021, Aranda and Baylor more than made up for the pandemic-induced flop. Baylor went 12-2 en route to the Big 12 championship. The Bears won the Sugar Bowl and finished 5th in the final national rankings. It was a dream season that ended with a Big 12 championship. Also, Baylor posted a school-record 12 wins and a Sugar Bowl victory over Ole Miss. But Baylor did not catch anyone napping in 2022. In turn, the Bears had to replace a lot of proven online wagering production off last year’s roster.

On the whole, the 2023 schedule is manageable until mid-November. The defense will be stronger with plenty of experience and a defensive-minded coach in Aranda. Indeed, Aranda rates as brilliant at fixing College Football Betting glitches.
Accordingly, Baylor’s key game is on September 23 against the Texas Longhorns. It’s the Big 12 opener, and it’s at home.

It doesn’t get much easier in a loaded conference. So if Baylor wants to make some noise, it has to pull off a game like this to set the tone. Especially with the road dates late in the year. The home side won the last five meetings, with the Bears last losing to the Longhorns in Waco in 2017. Lose, and the pressure gets ramped up in a huge way with a trip to UCF to follow.
Baylor entered 2022 with high expectations after winning the Big 12 the previous year. But the Bears stumbled to a disappointing 6-7 record and closed the season on a four-game losing streak.

Following the 2022 failure, Coach Dave Aranda made some staff changes to get the program and culture back on track. For Aranda’s program to return to the conference title game, better quarterback play from Blake Shapen is necessary. And the defense needs to return to its ’21 level after allowing 26.8 points a game last fall. Playing a school-record eight home games should help a team with concerns in the offensive line and secondary.

But if the transfer portal additions come through as expected, the Bears could be a Big 12 title contender. Baylor has won ten conference championships in its history. Additionally, they have a 14-12 record in bowl games. Robert Griffin III is the only Heisman Trophy winner in Baylor history.