# What is up with Baylor University's athletic programs? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [May 10, 2012, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-baylor-universitys-athletic-programs/621506 "2012-05-10T15:17:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2012, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-baylor-universitys-athletic-programs/621506/1 "2012-05-10T15:17:57Z")
The NCAA record for most wins in a single season of the four major sports (football, men’s and women’s basketball and baseball) is currently held by the University of Texas, set in the 2003-2004 season, with of W/L record of 123-31. Not surprising. Texas is historically an athletic powerhouse. But Baylor is on the cusp of shattering that record this season. With several weeks of the baseball season left, they are currently at 118-19. Texas’ winning % of 79.9%, also a NCAA record, will likely also be shattered by Baylor, currently at 86%. So how did Baylor become so strong across all of these sports? Their athletic director deserves a huge retention bonus for sure. source: [http://www.statesman.com/sports/baylor-can-topple-texas-all-time-big-four-2348896.html](http://www.statesman.com/sports/baylor-can-topple-texas-all-time-big-four-2348896.html) ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2012, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-baylor-universitys-athletic-programs/621506/2 "2012-05-10T15:26:43Z")
Forgot to add, throw in RG3 winning the Heisman from there this year, and it makes you scratch your head, given that they have struggled in their athletic programs since the Big 12 was formed almost 20 years ago. Rankings this year - Football: 12th Men’s basketball: 8th Women’s basketball: 1st Baseball: currently 2nd ---
**Author:** ![Haunted\_Pasta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/94ad74/32.png) [@Haunted\_Pasta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haunted_Pasta)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-baylor-universitys-athletic-programs/621506/3 "2012-05-11T14:11:30Z")
The answer has been revealed: a beaver. [http://www.statesman.com/sports/another-sport-another-season-of-baylors-dominance-2350670.html](http://www.statesman.com/sports/another-sport-another-season-of-baylors-dominance-2350670.html) ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-baylor-universitys-athletic-programs/621506/4 "2012-05-11T15:21:12Z")
Maybe it’s time they changed the mascot from the Bears to the Beavers. Whatever it is, it’s pretty damn impressive what they’ve done down there in Waco. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-baylor-universitys-athletic-programs/621506/5 "2012-05-11T16:49:28Z")
Baseball is a major college sport? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-baylor-universitys-athletic-programs/621506/6 "2012-05-11T17:07:03Z")
Yes. Not football/basketball caliber, but still major. To answer the OP, I have my $u$picion$… ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-baylor-universitys-athletic-programs/621506/7 "2012-05-11T17:29:20Z")
I would normally agree with you about the $$$. But I remember recently that the NCAA just finished a multi year review of their entire athletic dept…all programs, and the biggest violations they found were excessive text messages, etc. to recruits. The rules surrounding these violations are so stupid that the NCAA is amending them effective next month, as such Baylor wouldn’t have been in violation after the amendment. I think they’ve figured out some Moneyball formula for getting more out of their programs with less budget. Although without a big school budget having that kind of consistent performance will be harder over the long run. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-baylor-universitys-athletic-programs/621506/8 "2012-05-22T17:29:55Z")
The Baylor baseball team is one win away from tieing Texas’ all time single season win record across the four major sports of 123 wins. Their current record is 122-23, an 84% winning %. They start Big 12 tourney play on Wednesday. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-baylor-universitys-athletic-programs/621506/9 "2012-05-22T18:06:08Z")
didn’t Baylor Basketball hire an AAU coach a couple of years ago, that had a bunch a HS blue chippers on his team. And the Blue-chippers followed their coach/mentor to Waco. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-baylor-universitys-athletic-programs/621506/10 "2012-05-22T18:18:49Z")
Quick google search indicates that was Dwon Clifton, who was hired by Baylor during the recruitment of John Wall, who ended up Kentucky. Clifton left Baylor when Wall entered the NBA draft to become his agent. Subsequently, Baylor recruited Quincy Miller and Duece Bello who were on Clifton’s AAU team. Miller was Baylor’s first one and done and is entering the draft this year, and is rumored to be hiring Clifton as his agent as well. Bello is still on the Baylor team returning next season. Sounds like Scott Drew is using the same recruiting tactics that a lot of ther top basketball programs have done…ala Kansas hiring Mario Chalmers dad while he was a player there. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-baylor-universitys-athletic-programs/621506/11 "2012-05-22T20:00:57Z")
Including women’s basketball is Baylor putting its thumb on the scale to hype themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-baylor-universitys-athletic-programs/621506/12 "2012-05-22T20:32:39Z")
There are three college sports: men’s basketball, football, and everything else. I guess it’s cool that their women’s basketball team or baseball is doing well when their other teams are doing well (and contributing more than double the wins of their football team with 0% of the prestige), but I bet most Baylor fans would burn and salt their baseball field for a BCS championship game. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-baylor-universitys-athletic-programs/621506/13 "2012-05-22T21:27:12Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > Including women’s basketball is Baylor putting its thumb on the scale to hype themselves. Considering the link I posted in the OP is from a Longhorn sportswriter, I would say it’s hardly self promotion. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-baylor-universitys-athletic-programs/621506/14 "2012-05-22T21:28:25Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > There are three college sports: men’s basketball, football, and everything else. I guess it’s cool that their women’s basketball team or baseball is doing well when their other teams are doing well (and contributing more than double the wins of their football team with 0% of the prestige), but I bet most Baylor fans would burn and salt their baseball field for a BCS championship game. Agree. I’ve never been a chick basketball fan…so don’t put hardly any stock in it. ---
**Author:** ![magnusblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@magnusblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magnusblitz)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-baylor-universitys-athletic-programs/621506/15 "2012-05-22T22:00:45Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > The NCAA record for most wins in a single season of the four major sports (football, men’s and women’s basketball and baseball) is currently held by the University of Texas, set in the 2003-2004 season, with of W/L record of 123-31. Not surprising. Texas is historically an athletic powerhouse. > > But Baylor is on the cusp of shattering that record this season. With several weeks of the baseball season left, they are currently at 118-19. Texas’ winning % of 79.9%, also a NCAA record, will likely also be shattered by Baylor, currently at 86%. > > source: [http://www.statesman.com/sports/baylor-can-topple-texas-all-time-big-four-2348896.html](http://www.statesman.com/sports/baylor-can-topple-texas-all-time-big-four-2348896.html) This seems to be a little bit of cherry picking - I’m not sure what metric establishes those as the “four major college sports”. Most viewers? Most revenue? As others have pointed out, it’s usually football/men’s basketball by a HUGE margin over all other sports. I’m not sure there’s a good argument for including men’s baseball getting much over women’s softball, for example. Also, counting “total wins” is a bit silly since it also skews by sport. Baseball tends to play around 60 games a season. Basketball plays around 40. Football only plays 12. So counting those four sports, being better at baseball and basketball will override a weak football team (as you pointed out in your second post - the baseball team is #2, whereas the football team was #12). It is impressive to be good in a lot of sports at the same time, and the AD certainly does deserve any bonus, but I’m not sure it’s that out of the ordinary (compare to Florida around 2007). ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2012, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-baylor-universitys-athletic-programs/621506/16 "2012-05-23T00:44:37Z")
What’s their graduation rate and do the athletes actually learn anything to help them when the cheering stops? ---
**Author:** ![oliversarmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/eb8c5e/32.png) [@oliversarmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oliversarmy)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2012, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-baylor-universitys-athletic-programs/621506/17 "2012-05-23T01:38:52Z")
The lack of dancing contributes to their athletic prowess. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2012, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-baylor-universitys-athletic-programs/621506/18 "2012-05-23T01:41:11Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > What’s their graduation rate and do the athletes actually learn anything to help them when the cheering stops? What, you think gettin edjacated is all about book-lerning and stuff? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2012, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-baylor-universitys-athletic-programs/621506/19 "2012-05-23T03:23:43Z")
There’s actually something called the Capital One cup that compares overall college athletics. Baylor’s Men’s athletics are not in the Top 10 - they’re 48th. Baylor’s Women’s athletics are third. Just eyeballing it looks as if Stanford University would have claim to the best overall this year. **Men’s Standing** 1. North Carolina 75 2. Kentucky 66 3. Alabama 60 4. North Dakota State 60 5. Ohio State 52.5 6. Stanford 52.5 7. UCLA 48 8. Oklahoma State 47 9. LSU 42 10. ``` Cal 38 ``` 11. ``` Louisville 38 ``` **Women’s Standing** 1. Stanford 129.5 2. UCLA 92 3. Baylor 60 4. Duke 58 5. USC 52 6. Florida State 50 7. Notre Dame 41 8. Maryland 38 9. Illinois 36 10. ``` Connecticut 34 ``` 11. ``` Texas 34 ``` [http://www.capitalonecup.com/standings.html](http://www.capitalonecup.com/standings.html) ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2012, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-baylor-universitys-athletic-programs/621506/20 "2012-05-23T03:41:36Z")
Stanford women have won the Cup several years in a row. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-baylor-universitys-athletic-programs/621506.md?page=2)