College Football Rankings 2016: Projected AP Top 25 after Week 8
By Zach Bigalke
The Bears take a break this weekend after a mellow first half of their 2016 campaign. Sitting at 3-0 in conference play and 6-0 overall, Baylor doesn’t feel out of place in the single digits of the Top 25. Yet look a little deeper and it really does begin to feel like a mirage. The non-conference schedule came against FCS Northwestern State, SMU, and Rice, a trio of teams with a combined 2016 record to date of 3-15. The only truly convincing victory came against Oklahoma State. Iowa State nearly pulled off an upset of the Bears, and Kansas is at the same level as Baylor’s non-conference opponents.
We will learn much more about Baylor after they return to the field next week. A road game against the Longhorns concludes October, and then November ramps up in intensity. Home games against TCU, Kansas State, and Texas Tech are bunched around the November 12 showdown with Oklahoma in Norman. If Baylor reaches December undefeated, they’ll still have to knock off a tough West Virginia team in Morgantown. Barring upsets above them in the Top 25, they are approaching their ceiling in the polls.