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The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/usffan on 2025-07-23 08:25:18+00:00.
The cumulative link to the preseason rankings can be found here.
IT’S JULY 23rd! WE’RE EXACTLY 1 MONTH FROM THE KICKOFF OF THE 2025 SEASON!!!
Baylor (high = 18, low = 37) comes in at #31 and the 6th highest ranked team in the Big XII. It seems impossible to believe that Dave Aranda is entering his 6th season in charge in Waco after posting an 8-5 record in 2024 that saw them drop a back breaking Hail Mary game to Colorado on a Shedeur Sanders Hail Mary, rattle off a 6 game win streak to end the season and then drop the Texas Bowl to LSU to wrap up just his second winning season in 5 years. Though his seat’s not exactly hot, it’s not exactly cold, either, and if 2025 isn’t successful the Bears might want to revisit Memphis’ $200MM offer to help defray Aranda’s buyout.
Roster outlook
Baylor returns the 11th most production in all of FBS, with top 25 classes on both sides of the ball. Sawyer Robertson and his 3,000 yards passing and 28 TDs is back at QB, as is 1,000 yard rusher Bryson Washington and Robertson’s two top receiving targets Josh Cameron and Ashtyn Hawkins. With that much coming back, Aranda focused more on the future, corralling the 3rd best recruiting class in the conference (37th nationally) and only adding a few key players via the portal (good for 9th in the Big XII) like Bama WR Kobe Prentice and a few defensive starters (Oregon LB Emar’rion Winston and Tulane edge Matthew Fobbs-White). Continuity will be key, and the Bears bring back both Jake Spavital as OC and Matt Powledge as DC.
Schedule and outlook
Things could really get spicy for Baylor right out of the gate. They open at home against Auburn, then go to ACC runner-up and CFP team SMU. Win both of those and the Bears are certain to be ranked going into their Big XII opener against defending champs Arizona State. But if things go south and they exit week 4 1-3, the rumblings on SicEm365 will be unbearable. The rest of the schedule has a number of games against teams projected at the bottom of the conference (at Oklahoma State, at Cincinnati, UCF, at Arizona and Houston) that Baylor’s almost assured of another winning season, but barely topping .500 will not likely satisfy the fanbase.