Kansas 12 - 59 Baylor (Final)

The Bears continue to look amazing.  They have now won 11 games in a row -- the longest winning streak in Baylor history.  And almost all of those games have been blowouts.  Their all-time record in UCFC play is now 25-18-3.  Next up, they head home to defend the crown against one of the legendary powers of the game:  the Oklahoma Sooners.  That game will take place on Thursday night, November 7, in Waco, Tex.

As for Kansas, they fall to 1-6 in UCFC play, and they will have to hope that the trophy stays in the Big XII long enough for them to get another shot at it.

Kansas 0 - 21 Baylor (3:57 left in 1st Quarter)

And we're off to the World Series.  Baylor caps off an 86-yard drive with a 14-yard run by Glasco Martin Stony Point H.S. in Round Rock, Tex.  Baylor builds a 21-point lead, and it seems clear that this will not be KU's day.

So far Baylor has 257 yards, while KU has 17.  That should give you a sense of how it's gone.

Kansas 0 - 14 Baylor (7:15 left 1st Quarter)

OK, now we're rolling.  Baylor's defense held, Baylor got the ball back, Baylor went 84 yards in four plays to take a two-touchdown lead.  This time, the score came on a 29-yard run by Lache Seastrunk of Temple H.S. in Temple, Tex.

Kansas 0 - 7 Baylor (9:17 left in 1st Quarter)

Baylor couldn't do much on its first two possessions, but this time we saw the True Bears.  On Baylor's third possession, QB Bryce Petty of Midlothian H.S. in Midlothian, Tex. hit Tevin Reese of Temple H.S. in Temple, Tex. way down field at the KU 15.  Reese caught the ball in stride and ran untouched for a 62-yard touchdown.  Aaron Jones of Crowley H.S. in Crowley, Tex. added the extra point, and the Bears have the early lead.

We will keep blogging unless Baylor gets a 21-point lead.  The question is, can the Bears build that lead in time for us to switch over to Game Three of the World Series.

Kansas 0 - 0 Baylor (14:22 left in 1st Quarter)

Uniform watch:  Baylor has white helmets with the green BU logo; white shirts with gold shoulders and green numerals, and white pants with green stripes.  As usual, the numerals are meant to look futuristic, but they remind me of the numbers on the cars at Paducah International Raceway back in the 1980's.

Kansas is in all blue -- blue helmets with the Jayhawk logo, blue shirts, and blue pants with red stripes.  Kansas's numerals are unique in college football -- they are basically larger versions of the font used for KU basketball.

On their first possession, Baylor goes three and out.

Kansas v. Baylor

This is another one of those Big XII match-ups where the teams were in different conferences for most of their history.  Kansas and Baylor have met only 12 times, and the Bears hold an 8-4 lead in the all-time series.  They have never met for the UCFC.

The big story for this game, of course, is Baylor -- which moved up to number 6 in the AP poll.  This is Baylor's highest ranking in the AP poll since 1980, when the Bears won the old Southwest Conference with a record of 10-1 and climbed up to number 6 in the rankings.  (That team lost the Cotton Bowl to Alabama by a score of 30-2).  The Bears have also won 10 games in a row -- which ties them for the longest winning streak in Baylor history.  To recap, here's what Baylor has done so far this season (home team listed first):

Baylor 69 - 3 Wofford
Baylor 70 - 13 Buffalo
Baylor 70 - 7 La-Monroe
Baylor 73 - 42 W. Virginia
Kansas St. 25 - 35 Baylor
Baylor 71 - 7 Iowa St.

It is striking that Baylor scored so many fewer points in their only road game than in their home victories, but Kansas State was probably the best team the Bears have played all year.

Baylor is not expected to have much trouble today, road game or no.  They are 35-point favorites in a game where the oddsmakers expect 65 points to be scored.  That would work out to a 50-15 victory for the Bears, which would give them the all-time Baylor winning streak.  It would also let them keep the UCFC until their next game, against a team somewhat better-known than their other opponents this season -- Oklahoma.

Kansas

The four teams with the most wins in the history of college basketball are Kentucky, Kansas, North Carolina, and Duke.  Here's where they rank in college football:

All-time wins:
29.  N. Carolina (655-508-54)
48.  Kentucky (580-587-44)
55.  Kansas (573-586-58)
96.  Duke (468-494-31)

In terms of winning percentage, North Carolina is 53d, Kentucky is 89th, Kansas is 90th, and Duke is 94th.  So most years, these teams are simply waiting for basketball season to arrive.

The Golden Age of Kansas football lasted from 1891 until about 1920.  During this period, the Jayhawks only had four losing seasons, and they had some really great years.  In 1908, for example, they went 9-0, with big wins over Oklahoma (11-0), Nebraska (20-5), and Missouri (10-4).

Since 1920, however, football season has rarely been all that exciting in Lawrence.  The Jayhawks have all-time records of 23-43-3 against Colorado, 27-71-6 against Oklahoma, and 23-91-3 against Nebraska.  So they were a second-tier team in the old Big Eight, with their primary focus on the rivalry games against Kansas St. and Missouri.  Kansas was much more competitive there, with a record of 65-40-5 against K-State and a record of 54-57-9 against Missouri.  Their best team in the modern era may have been the 1968 squad, coached by Pepper Rodgers and led by quarterback Bobby Douglass.  That team went 9-1 in the regular season, winning the Big Eight title, and losing to Penn State by 15-14 in the Orange Bowl.  They finished seventh in the AP Poll.  In 2007, they won their first 11 games and got all the way to number 2 in the country, before losing to Missouri 36-28 in the last game of the regular season.  But they rallied to beat Virginia Tech 24-21 in the Orange Bowl, and they also finished seventh in the AP Poll.  That remains Kansas's only major bowl victory.

This year, the Jayhawks are having a typical Kansas-like season.  They are 2-4, with wins over South Dakota and Louisiana Tech.  They are 0-3 in the Big XII.  Because Missouri left the Big XII, they don't have that rivalry game to look forward to any more; these days they have to end the season with K-State.

Kansas won the UCFC the first time they ever played for it, beating Oklahoma 10-9 on November 11, 1926.  But the next week they lost to Missouri and they have never won the UCFC again.  Their all-time record in UCFC play is 1-5.  Their last appearance in a UCFC game was on October 25, 1997, when Nebraska beat them 35-0.

Baylor 71 - 7 Iowa St. (Final)

The most dramatic issue in this game was whether the teams would score the 77 points predicted in the over/under line.  With less than a minute to go, the folks who bet the under had to be feeling good -- the score was 64-0 in favor of Baylor.  But with only 47 seconds left, Iowa State scored to make it 64-7.  And then Corey Coleman of Baylor ran the ensuing kickoff back 97 yards for a final touchdown -- Baylor's ninth of the day.  So the teams combined for 78 points.  As usual, therefore, Baylor covered both the point spread (33 points) and the over-under line.  In five games played in Waco this year, the Bears have averaged 70.6 points per game.

Iowa State is not as bad as they looked last night (the Cyclones only lost to Texas by one point a few weeks ago), but the Cyclones were simply overwhelmed from the opening kick.  They fall to 0-6 in all-time UCFC games.

As for Baylor, they have now won 10 games in a row -- and 10 UCFC games in a row.  Their all-time record in UCFC play is now 24-18-3.  At no point in its long history has Baylor won more than 10 consecutive football games.  Next week, they will go for the record in Lawrence, Kan., where they will face the Kansas Jayhawks.

Baylor 27 - 0 Iowa St. (2:36 left in 2d Quarter)

OK, well this is going about as we expected.  Bryce Petty has already thrown for 201 yards, and the Bears are cruising toward their tenth UCFC victory in a row.

Baylor v. Iowa St.

This is not one of the great fixtures on the football calendar.  For most of their histories, Baylor and Iowa State were each near the bottom of their respective conferences.  Only after the Southwest Conference collapsed, and Baylor joined the new Big XII Conference, did the two start playing each other on a regular basis.  Iowa State leads the all-time series 6-5, and the Cyclones won last year's game, a 35-21 game played in Ames, Iowa.  The Cyclones and the Bears have never met for the UCFC.

Of course, today's game is all about Baylor, which is going for its 10th win in a row -- and its 10th UCFC victory in a row.  It's homecoming in Waco, and the Bear faithful will be celebrating their place as the number-12 team in the nation, and their tie for first in the Big XII standings.  They will also be expecting a big win -- and the oddsmakers agree.  Baylor is a 33-point favorite in a game where 77 points are supposed to be scored.  That would translate to a 55-22 Baylor victory -- which sounds about right to me.

Iowa State

There are a number of schools that have been playing big-time, major conference football for most of the last 100 years, and yet have almost never had a good team.  Iowa State is one of these programs.  The Cyclones have an all-time record of 506-605-46, which means that their winning percentage ranks 103d out of 125 schools in Division I-A.  I watch dozens of college football games every year, and I've been watching college football since 1971, and I don't think I've ever watched an Iowa State game from beginning to end.

A study of Wikipedia reveals that Iowa State's best-ever team was in 1976.  That team, coached by Earle Bruce (who later went on to great success at Ohio State) went 8-3 and beat Nebraska for the first time since 1960.  That year, the Cyclones finished 19th in the AP Poll -- their all-time highest ranking -- but were not invited to a bowl game.  Iowa State's only other appearance in the final AP poll was in the 2000 season, when they went 9-3 and were ranked 25th.  Since World War II, Iowa State has had two coaches that went on to win AP National Championships -- Johnny Majors (1968-72), who won the title at Pittsburgh in 1976, and Gene Chizik (2007-08), who won the 2010 title with Auburn.  But neither Majors (24-30-1) nor Chizik (5-19) had a winning record at Iowa State.  In fact, since World War II Earle Bruce is the only coach to leave Ames with a winning record -- he went 36-32 from 1973-78, which may be one of the best coaching jobs of all time.

Iowa State has won three bowl games.  In 2000, the Cyclones beat Pittsburgh 37-29 in the Insight.com Bowl.  In 2004, they beat Miami (Ohio) in the Independence Bowl, 17-13.  In 2009, they won the Insight Bowl with a 14-13 win over Minnesota.  They've also lost nine bowl games.  They have never played a game in January.

Given this dismal history, it is not surprising that the Cyclones have never come close to winning the UCFC.  They've played for the title on five occasions.  Here were the scores:

11/17/23:  Nebraska 26, Iowa St. 14
11/10/56:  Oklahoma 44, Iowa St. 0
10/05/57:  Oklahoma 40, Iowa St. 14
09/14/96:  Iowa 38, Iowa St. 13
11/15/97:  Nebraska 77, Iowa St. 14

We will see if they can do better today.

Kansas St. 25 - 35 Baylor (Final)

The Bears defense holds one more time, and Baylor wins its ninth consecutive UCFC game.  This was an excellent game, well-played by both sides, that finally turned on a missed field goal and an interception by Kansas State.  It was Baylor's first ever win in Manhattan, Kan., and it means that their all-time record in UCFC play goes to 23-18-3.

Kansas St. made a valiant effort to regain the UCFC that they lost to Baylor last year, but came up just short.  Their record in UCFC play falls to 3-8, and they will have to hope that the Big Gold Trophy stays in the Big XII long enough for them to get another crack at it.

Baylor returns home, and they will defend the UCFC next week against Iowa State.

Kansas St. 25 - 35 Baylor (1:16 left in 4th Quarter)

On third and five from the K-State 21, Glasco Martin of Stony Point H.S. in Round Rock, Tex. bursts through the lines and dashes untouched into the end zone.  Baylor has a 10 point lead, and it looks as though the Bears will take the Big Gold Trophy back to Waco.

Kansas St. 25 - 28 (3:48 left in 4th Quarter)

For reasons I don't understand, K-State decided to have Sams throw the ball.  He was chased into his own background, go away, hurled a pass toward the sidelines, WHERE IT WAS INTERCEPTED BY Ahmad Dixon of Midway H.S. in Waco, Tex.  Dixon made a spectacular play, catching the ball and getting down one foot just as he was going out of bounds.  Baylor takes over at the K-State 40 -- and remember, the Wildcats have no timeouts left.

Sams had 30 carries for 202 yards, and was 4-7 for 40 yards.  I think K-State might have been better off sticking with the running game.

Kansas St. 25 - 28 Baylor (4:35 left in 4th Quarter)

Once again, the K-State defense holds.  Once again, Baylor punts.  This time, K-State will take over on its own 20.  My guess is that the Wildcats will give the ball to Daniel Sams.

Kansas St. 25 - 28 Baylor (6:49 left in the 4th Quarter)

Once again, Daniel Sams leads a great drive for K-State.  He now has 29 carries for 194 yards.  Finally, the drive stops with a 4th and 2 at the Baylor 24.  K-State goes for the game-tying field goal -- but Cantele's kick GOES WIDE TO THE LEFT.  Baylor takes over the ball after dodging a huge, huge, bullet.

Kansas St. 25 - 28 Baylor (11:22 left in 4th Quarter)

But Baylor also goes three-and-out -- Ryan Mueller sacks Petty on third down -- and the Bears are forced to punt.  K-State will start from its own 32.

Kansas St. 25 - 28 Baylor (12:49 left in 4th Quarter)

Baylor's defense HOLDS.  K-State is forced to punt, and Baylor will take over on its own 18.

Kansas St. 25 - 28 Baylor (14:33 left in 4th Quarter)

Once again, Tevin Reese gets behind the entire Kansas State defense.  Petty finds him, and he strolls into the end zone to complete a 54-yard touchdown pass.  Baylor has retaken the lead on its third long touchdown pass of the day.  Here is Bryce Petty's line so far:  10-17 for 318 yards and three touchdowns.  That's right; he is averaging almost 32 yards per completion.

Kansas St. 25 - 21 Baylor (end of 3d Quarter)

Baylor has driven out to its own 44, but that third quarter was a total disaster.  They were outscored 15-0 in the third quarter, due in large part to a blocked punt and a fumble by their star quarterback.  Baylor hasn't been in this much trouble in a long time; it will be interesting to see how they respond.

Kansas St. 25 - 21 Baylor (45 seconds left in 3d Quarter)

Daniel Sams does it again -- he drives the Wildcats down the field and plunges in from two yards out for his third rushing touchdown of the game.  K-State tries another two-point conversion, which fails.  That's two points that the Wildcats have left on the table, and you have to wonder if they will regret those lost points.  But for now, Manhattan, Kan. is ecstatic -- the Wildcats have scored 15 points in a row, and they now lead in the battle for the Big Gold Trophy.

Kansas St. 19 - 21 Baylor (6:22 left in 3d Quarter)

Utter disaster for the Bears.  After a quick first down, Bryce Petty was rolling to his left, looking for a receiver.  Just as Petty was about to run out of bounds, junior defensive end Ryan Mueller, from St. Thomas Aquinas H.S. in Leawood, Kan., made an unbelievable play.  Mueller leaped at Petty, stripped the ball from his hand, and fell on it.  Suddenly, Kansas State has the ball at Baylor's 44, with a great chance to take the lead.

Kansas St. 19 - 21 Baylor (6:54 left in 3d Quarter)

After the timeout, Sams tries to throw for two points, but his pass is broken up by K.J. Morton of Northside H.S. in Warner-Robins, Ga.  K-State still trails by two.  But they have scored 9 points so far in the second half, to none for Baylor.  The Big Gold Trophy is very much up for grabs.

Kansas St. 19 - 21 Baylor (6:54 left in 3d Quarter)

It only takes a few plays for K-State to score a touchdown, as Daniel Sams dashes in from two yards out for his second rushing touchdown of the game.  K-State tries to go for two, but something goes from and Sams calls time-out.  That is K-State's last time-out of the game.  That could be a big deal.

Kansas St. 13 - 21 Baylor (7:28 left in 3d Quarter)

Baylor goes three and out and is forced to punt.  BUT THE PUNT IS BLOCKED by Weston Hiebert of Goessel H.S. in Goessel, Kan.  The Wildcats take over at the Baylor 21.

Kansas St. 13 - 21 Baylor (8:44 left in 3d Quarter)

Baylor couldn't do anything with its opening possession of the second half, and then Kansas State launched a drive that ended with its second field goal of the game -- a 32-yarder by Jack Cantele.  The Wildcats are back within one possession.  Daniel Sams now has 17 carries for 137 yards.

Kansas St. 10 - 21 Baylor (Halftime)

And so ends a relatively entertaining first half -- at least compared to other recent UCFC games.

Kansas St. 10 - 21 Baylor (1:51 left in 2d Quarter)

But Baylor seems to have its groove back.  Almost as soon as Baylor gets the ball, Bryce Petty hits Antwan Goodley of Midland H.S. in Midland, Tex.  Goodley breaks into the clear and outruns the K-State secondary to complete a 72-yard touchdown pass.  This is the Baylor we're used to seeing.

Kansas St. 10 - 14 Baylor (3:05 left in 2d Quarter)

Deep in their own territory, the Bears' defense holds firm, and K-State is forced to settle for a 24-yard Jack Cantele field goal.

Kansas St. 7 - 14 Baylor (4 minutes left in 2d Quarter)

But here come the Wildcats again, led by Daniel Sams.  For the game, Sams now has 123 yards on 12 carries, and K-State has a first and goal at the Baylor 8.  K-State calls time.

Kansas St. 7 - 14 Baylor (8:55 left in 2d Quarter)

For most of this game, Baylor has looked pretty normal.  But after an exchange of punts left the Bears with the ball, deep in their own territory, they broke out the magic.  From his own 7, Bryce Petty hurled a long pass to Tevin Reese of Temple H.S. in Temple, Tex., who somehow had gotten behind the entire K-State defense.  Reese was untouched as he raced the rest of the way to complete a 93-yard score.  That was the first time today where Baylor looked like itself.

Kansas St. 7 - 7 Baylor (14:57 left in 2d Quarter)

Kansas St. changed quarterbacks for this drive, bringing in Daniel Sams -- a sophomore from Salmen H.S. in Slidell, La.  All he did was carry the ball eight times for 63 yards -- and the last of those yards was a one-yard plunge for a touchdown.  Jack Cantele of Kapaun Mt. Carmel H.S. in Wichita, Kan. tacked on the extra point, and we are all tied up.

The UCFC is in doubt for the first time all season!

Kansas St. 0 - 7 Baylor (end of 1st Quarter)

The Wildcats have taken the ball and driven all the way down to the Baylor 1-yard line.  This is the first time all year that Baylor hasn't put the game away in the first quarter.  It will be interesting to see how the Bears respond.

Kansas St. 0 - 7 Baylor (4:08 left in 1st Quarter)

Baylor moves the ball out to its own 39, but is forced to punt for only the 8th time this season.  Spencer Roth of Catholic H.S. in Knoxville, Tenn. boots the ball to the K-State 22, and the Wildcats will start from there.

Kansas St. 0 - 7 Baylor (5:33 left in 1st Quarter)

After a very impressive drive, the K-State Wildcats had a 4th and 1 at the Baylor 9.  Heeding the pleas of the big crowd, the Wildcats went for the first down -- but they did not make it.  The Baylor defense stuffed K-State's running play at the line.  Given how many points the Bears are likely to score, that was a big missed opportunity for K-State.

Kansas St. 0 - 7 Baylor (10:33 left in 1st Quarter)

Well, it took a little longer than usual, but the result was the same.  Baylor takes the opening kick and drives 58 yards for a touchdown.  On fourth and inches from the goal line, Baylor QB Bryce Petty of Midlothian H.S. in Midlothian, Tex. sneaked into the end zone to give the Bears their usual early lead.  Aaron Jones of Crowley H.S. in Crowley, Tex. tacked on the extra point.

Kansas St. 0 - 0 Baylor (15 minutes left in 1st Quarter)

For the first time this year, we have broken out the audio feed for a UCFC game.  We have the Baylor announcers ("From the banks of the Brazos, and all across the State of Texas."

Uniform watch:  Baylor has the traditional gold helmets with green BU logo, white jerseys with gold sleeves and green futuristic numerals, and gold pants.  Kansas State looks very traditional with their silver helmets (with Wildcat logo), purple jerseys and traditional white numerals, and silver pants with purple stripes.

It is a lovely day in Manhattan, Kan., and the Wildcats have a huge and very purple crowd in attendance.

Kansas St. v. Baylor

Last November 17, Kansas State was on top of the world -- the Wildcats were undefeated, they were ranked number 1 in the Bowl Championship Series, and they had the Unofficial College Football Championship.  When the Wildcats rolled into Waco, Tex., they were heavily favored to hold all those titles.  But instead, they were destroyed by Baylor, 52-24.  The Bears have not lost since -- they have successfully defended the UCFC seven times in a row.  Baylor's eight consecutive wins represents the fourth-longest winning streak in Baylor history.

Baylor is now ranked 15th in the country, while K-State is off to a 2-3 start.  Now the oddsmakers expect Baylor to roll on -- the Bears are 17 1/2 point favorites in a game where the over/under line is 74.  That would work out to something like a 46-28 victory for Baylor.  That sounds about right.  But as we saw last year, you never know what will happen when the Big Gold Trophy goes on the road.

Baylor 73 - 42 W. Virginia (Final)

Once again, Baylor's offensive performance has exceeded expectations.  In their first conference game of the year, the Bears had 864 total yards as they absolutely humiliated the West Virginia defense.  Remarkably, the game was not as close as the final score indicated -- Baylor was up 56-14 at the half.  But the pollsters still aren't convinced -- Baylor is ranked number 15 in the country, four spots below a UCLA team that the Bears destroyed in last season's Holiday Bowl.

The Bears have now won eight consecutive UCFC games -- the longest streak since a Florida team led by Tim Tebow won 13 in a row from January 8, 2009 to December 5, 2009.  The Bears' all-time UCFC record is now 22-18-3.

West Virginia loses its second consecutive UCFC game, and the Mountaineers fall to 16-9 in UCFC match-ups.

Next week Baylor takes the Big Gold Trophy on the road for the first time, traveling to Manhattan, Kan. for a game against Kansas State.

Baylor 28 - 7 W. Virginia (4:56 left in 1st Quarter)

OK, we're done here.  West Virginia got to midfield, and then punted into the end zone.  On first and 10 from their own 20, the Baylor Bears went for what appeared to be a simple handoff, giving the ball to Lache Seastrunk of Temple H.S. in Temple, Tex.  He broke a tackle and the line -- and then went 80 yards for Baylor's fourth touchdown of the quarter.

Baylor scores so quickly and has been so dominant that I probably haven't given them enough credit so far this season.  It's possible, of course, that Baylor is actually the greatest football team of all time.  Certainly, that's what their play so far would indicate.  But I really want to see how they do against tougher competition.  Next week, they will take the Big Gold Trophy on the road for the first time this year, as they will head up to Manhattan, Kan. for a battle with the Kansas State Wildcats -- the same team Baylor took the trophy from last season.

Baylor 21 - 7 W. Virginia (6:25 left in 1st Quarter)

Watching Baylor play football is like watching someone play Tecmo Bowl against the computer.  West Virginia goes for it on fourth and 2 from its own 47; doesn't make it.  Baylor takes over, and on the first play Bryce Petty hurls a 47-yd touchdown pass to Tevin Reese of Temple H.S. in Temple, Tex.

At this point I'm putting West Virginia on the clock.  Once the Mountaineers fall 21 points behind, I'm going to stop posting all the scores, and I'm going to switch this game from the HD television to the one with standard definition.

Baylor 14 - 7 W. Virginia (8:59 left in the 1st Quarter)

See?  Baylor charges straight back and scores on a four-yard run by Bryce Petty.  So far Petty is 5-5 for 104 yards, and it looks like he's running a scrimmage.

By the way, Baylor is the first team since 1930 to start the season by scoring 60 or more points in each of their first three games.  At this rate, they are going to make it four in a row.

Baylor 7 - 7 W. Virginia (12:32 left in 1st Quarter)

Ah, life in the Big XII.  Well, the Baylor defense actually held, so Nick O'Toole (from Fullerton College in Corona, Calif.) punted the ball almost to the goal line, where it was fumbled by Levi Norwood of State College, Pa.  The ball bounced into the end zone, where it was recovered by a Mountaineer:  Karl Joseph of Edgewater H.S. in Orlando, Fla.   Josh Lambert of Garland H.S. in Garland, Tex. added the extra point -- and we're all tied.

I would say that this could be a big play in the game -- but I think Baylor is going to score pretty much every time they get the ball, so it won't make that much of a difference.

Baylor 7 - 0 W. Virginia (14:20 left in 1st Quarter)

And here we go again.  After just a few plays, Bryce Petty of Midlothian H.S. in Midlothian, Tex. hurled a 61-yard touchdown pass to Antwan Goodley of Midland H.S. in Midland, Tex.  Aaron Jones of Crowley H.S. in Crowley, Tex. kicked the extra point, and the Bears have their usual early lead.

Google reports that it's 326 miles from Midlothian, Tex. to Midland, Tex.  Midlothian is in the Dallas Metroplex; Midland is out in West Texas, close to Odessa.

Baylor 0 - 0 W. Virginia (15 minutes left in 1st quarter)

Uniform watch:  Baylor is wearing shiny gold helmets with the BU logo, black shirts with futuristic gold numerals, and black pants.  They look like a rollerball team.  West Virginia is wearing its usual blue helmet with WV logo, white shirts with blue numerals, and white pants -- but the font on their numerals look like something from a NASCAR race in 1967.

Baylor v. W. Virginia

When we started this blog several years ago, I had no idea that we would end up paying so much attention to Baylor and West Virginia.  Until last year, these schools had never played each other -- and, in fact, had little in common other than having lots of Baptists on campus.  But then West Virginia crushed Clemson in the 2012 Sugar Bowl to take the Unofficial College Football Championship back to Morgantown.  The Mountaineers then took their program to the Big XII -- and that explains how their first ever game against Baylor turned into a battle for the UCFC.  The Eers won that game by the ludicrous score of 70-63, and I thought we'd heard the last of Baylor for awhile.  But the Bears rallied toward the end of season, and won the UCFC themselves.  In fact, Baylor has won seven UCFC games in a row -- including all three of their games this season, laughers against Wofford, Buffalo, and Louisiana-Monroe.

Now Baylor is playing its first major conference opponent of the year -- and sure enough, that team is West Virginia.  The Mountaineers no longer have Geno Smith, their great quarterback from last year, and their play so far in 2013 has been downright eccentric.  They are 3-2.  Their losses include a disastrous 37-0 defeat against Maryland in Baltimore, and a hard-fought 16-7 loss at Oklahoma.  Their wins include an impressive 30-21 home victory over Oklahoma State.  Traditionally, West Virginia plays to the level of their competition, and I think we can assume they will go all out in tonight's game.

Baylor, on the other hand, hasn't had a competitive game since last December.  But they are at home, and teams rarely lose UCFC games at home.  The Bears are up to number 17 in the country on the basis of their three blowout wins, and the folks in Vegas have made them 30-point favorites in a game where the over-under is 72.  That would translate into a 51-21 victory for Baylor, which is the sort of score that could put them into the top 10.