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<h1 align="right" style="text-align:right"><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;text-decoration:none">BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS Oct. 13, 2022<o:p></o:p></span></b></h1>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<h2 align="left" style="text-align:left"><b><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;font-style:normal">Baylor MBB Picked to Win Big 12 in Preseason Coaches Poll<o:p></o:p></span></b></h2>
<h2 align="left" style="text-align:left"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;font-style:normal">Bears tabbed conference favorites for second time in three years</span></b><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;font-style:normal"><o:p></o:p></span></b></h2>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">For more information contact:
</span></b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Matt Roberts, 254-227-2280,
</span><a href="mailto:WM_Roberts@Baylor.edu"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WM_Roberts@Baylor.edu</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="background:white"><strong><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">IRVING, Texas </span></strong><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">Baylor men's basketball has been picked to
finish atop the Big 12 Conference standings in the 2022-23 Big 12 Preseason Poll, as voted on by the conference's head coaches. This is the second time BU has been picked to win the league. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">With coaches not permitted to vote for their own teams, the Bears received five first-place votes out of a possible nine. BU has received at least one first-place
vote in three of the last four preseason polls, joining Kansas as the only other program to accomplish that in the previous four years.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">Baylor received 77 of a possible 81 points, followed by Kansas with 73 points and four first-place votes. Texas garnered the remaining first-place vote, putting
them in third with 64 points. TCU (58), Oklahoma State (42), Texas Tech (42), Oklahoma (32), Iowa State (30), West Virginia (20) and Kansas State (12) round out the 10-team poll.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">This marks the 12<sup>th</sup> time in the last 15 seasons that BU has been picked to finish in the top half of the league. The Bears were picked in the lower
half of the league in each of the conference's first 12 seasons.</span><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#666666;background:white"> </span><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">Baylor was picked third a year ago before tying Kansas for the Big 12 Championship, BUs second in program history and second in as many years.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">Head coach <dfn><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-style:normal">Scott Drew</span></dfn> enters his 20<sup>th</sup> season at Baylor in 2022-23.
He holds a 417-233 career record over 20 years as a Division I coach, including a 397-222 mark at BU. Over the past 15 seasons, Drew has led Baylor to 10 NCAA Tournament appearances, five Sweet 16 berths, three trips to the Elite Eight and the 2021 National
Championship.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">BU returns two starters, including unanimous 2022 Preseason All-Big 12 Team member Adam Flagler, who joins Preseason Big 12 Freshman of the Year Keyonte George
in the backcourt. Preseason All-Big 12 honorable mention selection LJ Cryer looks to bounce back from an injury-plagued sophomore season, where he averaged 13.5 points per game and shot .476 from three-point range.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">The Bears brought in experienced transfers Caleb Lohner (BYU) and Jalen Bridges (WVU), who will join Flo Thamba and his 64-straight starts in the front court.</span><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#666666;background:white"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Season tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at
</span><span style="color:black"><a href="https://baylorbears.evenue.net/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/SEGetEventList?groupCode=MBST&linkID=baylor&shopperContext=&caller=&appCode=&utm_source=Evenue&utm_campaign=2223_MBB+Season+Tickets+-+Social"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">BaylorBears.com</span></a></span><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">.
Follow @BaylorMBB on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for additional updates.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;background:white"><strong><u><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">2022-23 BIG 12 PRESEASON POLL</span><span style="background:white"><o:p></o:p></span></u></strong></p>
<p style="margin:0in;background:white"><strong><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">1. Baylor 77 (5)<o:p></o:p></span></strong></p>
<p style="margin:0in;background:white"><strong><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white;font-weight:normal">2. Kansas 73 (4)</span></strong><strong><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white"><o:p></o:p></span></strong></p>
<p style="margin:0in;background:white"><strong><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white;font-weight:normal">3. Texas 64 (1)<o:p></o:p></span></strong></p>
<p style="margin:0in;background:white"><strong><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white;font-weight:normal">4. TCU 58<o:p></o:p></span></strong></p>
<p style="margin:0in;background:white"><strong><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white;font-weight:normal">T5. Oklahoma State 42<o:p></o:p></span></strong></p>
<p style="margin:0in;background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">T5. Texas Tech 42</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin:0in;background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">7. Oklahoma 32<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">8. Iowa State 30<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">9. West Virginia 20<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">10. Kansas State 12<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;background:white"><strong><u><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">BAYLOR IN BIG 12 PRESEASON POLLS (First-Place Votes)</span></u></strong><sup><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white"><o:p></o:p></span></sup></p>
<p style="margin:0in;background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">1997 12<sup>th<o:p></o:p></sup></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">1998 10<sup>th<o:p></o:p></sup></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">1999 t-11<sup>th<o:p></o:p></sup></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">2000 12<sup>th<o:p></o:p></sup></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">2001 11<sup>th<o:p></o:p></sup></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">2002 9<sup>th<o:p></o:p></sup></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">2003 8<sup>th<o:p></o:p></sup></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">2004 12<sup>th<o:p></o:p></sup></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">2005 12<sup>th<o:p></o:p></sup></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">2006 12<sup>th <o:p></o:p></sup></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">2007 7<sup>th<o:p></o:p></sup></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">2008 9<sup>th<o:p></o:p></sup></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">2009 t-3<sup>rd<o:p></o:p></sup></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">2010 10<sup>th<o:p></o:p></sup></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">2011 4<sup>th<o:p></o:p></sup></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">2012 3<sup>rd<o:p></o:p></sup></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">2013 2<sup>nd</sup> (1)<sup><o:p></o:p></sup></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">2014 3<sup>rd<o:p></o:p></sup></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">2015 t-6<sup>th<o:p></o:p></sup></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">2016 5<sup>th<o:p></o:p></sup></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">2017 5<sup>th<o:p></o:p></sup></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">2018 5<sup>th<o:p></o:p></sup></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">2019 9<sup>th<o:p></o:p></sup></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">2020 2<sup>nd</sup> (1)<sup><o:p></o:p></sup></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">2021 1<sup>st</sup> (7)<sup><o:p></o:p></sup></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">2022 3<sup>rd<o:p></o:p></sup></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">2023<sup>
</sup> 1<sup>st</sup> (5)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="mso-margin-top-alt:15.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;text-align:center;vertical-align:baseline">
<a href="http://www.BaylorBears.com"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">www.BaylorBears.com</span></a><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Matt Roberts | Associate Director of Athletic Communications (MBB/MGOLF/ WGOLF/) <br>
Department of Athletics | Baylor University<br>
C: 254-227-2280<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><img border="0" width="152" height="43" style="width:1.5833in;height:.4479in" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.png@01D8DEEC.49A83C40" alt="signature_1582587907"><o:p></o:p></p>
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