Baylor MBB Ranked No. 16 in Preseason AP Top 25

[Kaye, David]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – Oct. 21, 2019

Baylor MBB Ranked No. 16 in Preseason AP Top 25
Seventh time in last 10 years Bears have been ranked in preseason AP poll
For more information contact: David Kaye, 254-709-5147, David_Kaye at baylor.edu<mailto:David_Kaye at baylor.edu>

NEW YORK – Baylor men’s basketball is ranked No. 16 in the preseason AP Top 25 poll, the Associate Press announced Monday. The preseason ranking is Baylor’s seventh in the last 10 years and ties the second-highest preseason ranking in program history.

Baylor is listed third among Big 12 teams, trailing No. 3 Kansas and No. 13 Texas Tech. In addition to two games against each of those teams, the Bears play a road game against No. 6 Florida as part of the Big 12/SEC Challenge in January, host No. 21 Arizona in December and could face No. 10 Villanova in the Myrtle Beach Invitational in November.

BU’s second game of the season is a neutral-site meeting with Washington in Anchorage, Alaska as part of the Armed Forces Classic. Washington is listed first among teams receiving votes just outside the top 25.

Baylor’s No. 16 ranking marks the seventh time the Bears have been listed in the preseason AP Top 25. The Bears were No. 16 in the 2010-11 preseason, No. 12 in 2011-12, No. 19 in 2012-13, No. 25 in 2013-14, No. 22 in 2015-16 and No. 24 in 2017-18.

Michigan State is No. 1, followed by No. 2 Kentucky, No. 3 Kansas, No. 4 Duke, No. 5 Louisville, No. 6 Florida, No. 7 Maryland, No. 8 Gonzaga, No. 9 North Carolina, No. 10 Villanova, No. 11 Virginia, No. 12 Seton Hall, No. 13 Texas Tech, No. 14 Memphis, No. 15 Oregon, No. 16 Baylor, No. 17 Utah State, No. 18 Ohio State, No. 19 Xavier, No. 20 Saint Mary’s, No. 21 Arizona, No. 22 LSU, No. 23 Purdue, No. 24 Auburn and No. 25 VCU.

The Bears were tabbed second in the Big 12 preseason coaches’ poll, and junior forward Tristan Clark was selected to the five-player Preseason All-Big 12 Team and the Karl Malone Award watch list. Clark is one of eight returning letterwinners from last season’s team, including fellow All-Big 12 players Jared Butler and Mark Vital.

Additional returners include Devonte Bandoo, Matthew Mayer, Freddie Gillespie, Flo Thamba and Obim Okeke. The Bears welcome a pair of newcomer guards who sat out as transfers last season, with MaCio Teague and Davion Mitchell joining the rotation, as well as freshman Jordan Turner and redshirt freshman Jackson Moffatt.

Head coach Scott Drew enters his 17th season at Baylor in 2019-20. He holds a 336-220 career record over 17 years as a Division I coach, including a 316-209 mark at BU. Drew’s teams have combined to post a 280-140 record over the last 12 seasons, recording a 21-10 record over 11 postseason appearances in that span.

Big 12 Conference Men’s Basketball Media Day is scheduled for Wednesday at Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo., site of the 2020 Phillips 66 Men’s Basketball Championship. Baylor will be represented by Drew, Bandoo, Gillespie, Okeke and Butler.


Baylor opens the 2019-20 season at 11 a.m. CT on Tuesday, Nov. 5 against Central Arkansas at the Ferrell Center. The Bears then head to Alaska to face Washington in the Armed Forces Classic at 8:30 p.m. CT on Friday, Nov. 8, before returning to Waco to host Texas State at 8 p.m. CT on Friday, Nov. 15.



Season tickets can be purchased by calling the Baylor Athletics Ticket Office at 254-710-1000 or online at www.BaylorBears.com/tickets<http://www.BaylorBears.com/tickets>. Follow @BaylorMBB on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for updates throughout the year.

2019-20 PRESEASON AP TOP 25
1. Michigan State
2. Kentucky
3. Kansas
4. Duke
5. Louisville
6. Florida
7. Maryland
8. Gonzaga
9. North Carolina
10. Villanova
11. Virginia
12. Seton Hall
13. Texas Tech
14. Memphis
15. Oregon
16. Baylor
17. Utah State
18. Ohio State
19. Xavier
20. Saint Mary’s
21. Arizona
22. LSU
23. Purdue
24. Auburn
25. VCU

BAYLOR PRESEASON AP TOP 25 RANKINGS
2010-11 – 16th
2011-12 – 12th
2012-13 – 19th
2013-14 – 25th
2015-16 – 22nd
2016-17 – 24th
2019-20 – 16th



www.BaylorBears.com




--

David Kaye | Assistant AD for Communications
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
C: 254-709-5147

[signature_819854647]
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.baylor.edu/pipermail/localmedia/attachments/20191022/ef89e9a5/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.png
Type: image/png
Size: 20333 bytes
Desc: image001.png
URL: <http://mailman.baylor.edu/pipermail/localmedia/attachments/20191022/ef89e9a5/attachment-0001.png>