A Subject I Never Thought I Would Blog About

Baylor football. Yes, that's right, I said Baylor football. And I'll bet the 2 or 3 people that actually read this thing never thought in a million years I would have any opinion(s) about Baylor football, especially since I didn't even go there. However, I do have a few good friends that did (and my wife has a few as well) so I am well versed on the subject.

I know every just about every fall season, in recent memory, Baylor has been the big punch line around the Big XII, the school other schools try to schedule for their homecoming. Since the Big XII's creation in 1996, Baylor has 11 conference wins. Kids, that ain't too good. However, being as I went to Mississippi State, I too have been treated to some baaaddddd football in recent years. But things are looking up for State this year which bring me to my point. Everything, and I mean everything, in life (and in sports) is on the wheel. Good teams don't stay good forever and bad teams don't stay bad forever.

I'll give you 2 examples: Nebraska and Kansas State (both Big XII schools coincidentally). Since the dawn of time, it seems Nebraska has had a good football team, that is until the last 4 years. Nebraska went to 25 straight bowl games and had 3 national championships and they were almost impossible to beat in Lincoln. Fast forward to 2007 and where is the team now? Average at very best (and sometimes not even that). Another fine example of a team you never thought would disappear from the top 25 polls is Florida State...they will be lucky to go to a bowl this year.

My second example is Kansas State. Kansas State was dubbed in 1989 by Sports Illustrated as "the worst college football team in history." If Baylor is barely on the conference radar, K-State wasn't even registering on the radar. However, 10 years later, they were one of the best teams in the country (albeit with mostly juco players).

Baylor is a fine school. They seem to be at least competitive, if not very good, in all sports besides football. And I know I may sound loony when I say this but Baylor will not be the doormat of the Big XII much longer. I have nothing to base that on except my 'wheel theory'. But if MS State who competes, recruiting wise, with LSU, Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Tennessee, Florida, Florida St., Miami, and Georgia can become competitive again, then Baylor will figure out how to become competitive and get back to the level they were at in the '80's when they went 66-46 in SWC games.

Baylor needs a couple of things for this to happen. First, Baylor needs to hire the right coach who knows how and where to recruit. All it takes is for Baylor to get one player like Chase Daniel (QB of Missouri who went to HS at Southlake Carroll) which I don't think is that far fetched. That kind of player makes other players around him better. Most Baylor fans will remember quarterback JJ Joe...that's the kind of player I'm talking about.

The other thing Baylor needs to do is learn how to win which is where the right coach comes in. The right kind of coach will actually change the climate from a loosing mentality to a winning one. This type of change is a slow process but once the ball gets rolling the momentum picks up and that's when things start happening. Guy Morris may, or may not, be the right man for the job. But I really don't think in 10 years, we will view Baylor the same way. Things may not change over night but I really do believe they will get things figured out and turned around down in Waco.

Take heart my Baylor friends and keep your chin up. Things could be worse for you...you could be a Notre Dame fan.