– Last Updated on June 8, 2018 7:50 am
2017 Football Preview – Big 12 – Bears
Looking for 2017 Baylor Bears predictions? The Bears last couple years have been filled with scandal, and it has also affected the results on the field. But the Bears administration made a change at coach this off season bringing in former Temple coach Matt Rhule. They are hoping he can bring in some positive results on and off the field.
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2017-18 College Football Preview – Baylor Bears
Head Coach: Matt Rhule
2016 Record: 7-6
Baylor Bears Odds to win the 2017 FBS Championship: +30000
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What kind of results can Matt Rhule bring in his first season?
2017 Baylor Bears Irish Predictions: Team Strengths
Beginning of a new era: The biggest strength this team has, it’s moving on from the Art Briles era. Yes the results on the field are important but the most important thing for this Baylor Bears team is the results off the field.
The Bears need to not have any off the field incidents and it sounds like under the rule of Rhule that could be very successful.
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They still don’t know what kind of bans and punishment will be enforced on the program, but they need to have just one good clean year.
There was a story out a couple weeks back about how Matt Rhule would text his players every couple hours and remind them the importance of respecting woman. If his players listen to that message, no matter the results on the field, that will be the biggest victory they have all year.
The Man Under Center: One of the biggest question marks coming into this season, I think will also be one of their biggest strengths, the man under center.
Sophomore Zach Smith and Arizona graduate transfer Anu Soloman will compete for the starting role, and no matter who is under center I think it will be a strength.
Zach Smith was good in last years bowl game against Boise State throwing for 375 yards and three touchdowns. Soloman was a solid quarterback at Arizona and he should be motivated if he wins the job.
2017 Baylor Bears Predictions: Team Weaknesses
Switching Schemes: One of the biggest problems the Baylor Bears might have this season is the switching of schemes, and if the players brought in will fit the new scheme.
When Matt Rhule was the coach at temple they played a very physical brand of offense, and it was a very slow paced game.
The Bears ran a spread style of offense that involved a lot of passing and airing it out. It also featured a ton of no huddle offense, something I wouldn’t expect Rhule to do much of.
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It will be interesting to see how Rhule manages this year with a lot of players that aren’t his guys, and not necessarily guys he would recruit.
If he can mesh these guys with his schemes they could see some success this year, if he can’t it could be a rough first year as the guy in charge of Baylor.
A thin defense: The Baylor Bears have never been really known for their defense, and they probably won’t be again this year.
They lost Orion Stewart, Aiavion Edwards, Patrick Levels and they just lost Travon Blanchard to suspension.
It’s going to leave the defense very thin, and any injuries to this side of the ball could be devastating.
Baylor Bears Prediction
7-5
This might be one of the hardest teams to predict. No one really knows how this scheme is going to change the results for this team.
Their non conference schedule is weak with their hardest game being against Duke, so those three games should be wins and might give them some confidence going into the rest of the season.
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The other positive thing for the Bears is they play in a Big 12 conference that has a lot of bad teams at the bottom. They should have another guaranteed win in the Kansas Jayhawks but after that is all up in air.
I think they will will find a couple more wins and finish the season with seven wins again, enough to make another bowl game.
2017 Baylor Bears Football Schedule
- 9/2/17 TBD LIB
- 9/9/17 TBD UTSA
- 9/16/17 TBD @DUKE
- 9/23/17 TBD OKLA
- 9/30/17 TBD @KSU
- 10/14/17 TBD @OKST
- 10/21/17 TBD WVU
- 10/28/17 TBD TEX
- 11/4/17 TBD @KU
- 11/11/17 TBD TTU
- 11/18/17 TBD ISU
- 11/24/17 TBD @TCU
What do you think about our 2017 Baylor Bears predictions? Please leave us a comment below telling us how you think they’ll do in 2017!
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