Baylor has plenty to prove in Monday’s season opener against Northwestern State in Waco, Texas.
The Bears hope to serve their doubters some humble pie after an extensive offseason overhaul.
Following a 17-17 campaign in 2025-26 that produced just six wins in the Big 12, the Bears are unranked in the Associated Press preseason poll for the second straight year after appearing in the preseason ranking every year since 2018-19.
Baylor did not play in the NCAA Tournament last year and endured hasty exits in the four previous seasons since winning the national championship in 2021.
The Bears will, as usual, be a guard-driven attack, with transfers Brett Decker Jr. (16.9 points last year at Liberty), Kayden Mingo (13.7 points, 4.3 assists per game at Penn State) and five-star prospect Dylan Mingo (Kayden’s younger brother) leading the way.
“Our ability to create at the point guard position is a lot greater than it was last year — just depth-wise, numbers-wise,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “Usually, college basketball is a guard’s game, and we’re back to having a lot of bigger guards.”
Isaac Williams is Baylor’s top returning scorer after averaging 10.4 points per game in 2025-26.
The Bears posted exhibition wins over top-ranked Florida on Oct. 18 in Jacksonville, Fla., and against No. 3 Illinois in Champaign, Ill., on Oct. 23. Is that a sign of things to come for Baylor?
“The offseason’s been good, getting used to everybody’s play styles,” Decker said. “Seeing how everybody plays and what spots they like. We’re all coming together real good before the season.”
Into this fray comes Northwestern State, which went 10-22 overall and 8-14 in Southland Conference play last season. The Demons will be led by guard Izzy Miles, who averaged 10.5 points last year while playing in all 32 games and starting 19 of them.
The newcomer class for Northwestern State includes five four-year transfers and three junior college transfers. Dakota State transfer Nathan Ojukwu (16.9 points, 7.2 rebounds last season) is the most prominent member of the incoming class.
“This group represents everything we want Northwestern State basketball to be, which is tough, connected and selfless,” Demons coach Rick Cabrera said. “They have embraced the challenge of being committed to competing every possession, every day.”