Posted on 11/22/2013 8:05:20 AM PST by Dysart
Baylor's football team is undefeated because of its high-octane offense, its talented roster and its brilliant play-calling—and because of a long stretch of pavement known as I-35.
Saturday's showdown at No. 10 Oklahoma State, the Baylor Bears are ranked No. 4 in the Bowl Championship Series standings. Should they win out, they could skip over Ohio State and slide into the national-championship game, if either Alabama /Florida State loses.
Under Baylor coach Art Briles, a 57-year-old Texan who toiled for two decades in that state's high-profile high-school football leagues...Briles's offensive scheme has the Bears leading the country in scoring and total offense while averaging almost 100 more yards per game than anyone else. Baylor also posted at least 60 points in six of its nine games this season and at least 35 points in all nine.
But there is another peculiar factor fueling Baylor's rise in the BCS rankings, and it's otherwise known as the quickest way of driving to this Baptist school in the heart of Texas: Interstate 35.
Located in Waco, a town whose limited commercial air service hardly matters because it's between the state's three largest cities, Baylor is easy to reach from Dallas, Houston or San Antonio.
t also sits right on I-35, as every Texan knows. That interstate is one of the most-traveled roads in the nation's richest state for football recruits. As such, I-35 helps Baylor overcome its status as the second-smallest school among Texas members of major-football conferences. Its location allows Baylor coaches to compete for recruits against rivals like Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech—and the nationally relevant programs that consider Texas their far-flung backyard. So prized are Texas players by schools outside the state that Stanford managed to lure 13 players to its California campus this season.
Texans comprise 87% of Baylor's roster...
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
I just got a speeding ticket in Texas. First ticket in over 20 years. I had flwn into Texas to vist my mom n Dallas and wasdriving down to an A&M football game.
Just after going through downtown Bremond, i was ticketed with supposedly going 40 in a 30mph. I don’t even think I was speedng.
I agree with you!
Guess we’ll see tomorrow :-)
Baylor ‘86
The recruiting key is Coach Briles. Unlike many of the other college coaches, Coach Briles toiled in the high school coaching ranks for years winning state championships at Stephenville. He is connected with high school coaches all over the State of Texas, which is how he has found players overlooked by the big boys.
Interesting. That’s why college coaching is so much different than the pros.
All of Drew Brees’ relatives had gone to UT or A&M but somehow Joe Tiller got him up here to Purdue. And the rest is history.
Actually, the speed limit on the newest part of SH 130 is 85 MPH.
“Actually, the speed limit on the newest part of SH 130 is 85 MPH.”
Yea,yea I know. It’s 80 then 85 on the southernmost segment.
I was only throwing out some fun driving on 35 for the guy who had been suffering traffic stagnation while traveling.
The only place you really have to watch is the area of Itasca where the local coppers run radar 24/7. The speed limit there to Johnson county line is 75, but some people still get caught by the Itasca speed trappers.
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Where did your number come from? I have no idea the correct number but here
is a link to a TXDOT I-35 website where they say 45% live within 50 miles.
It's a PDF file so click to open it. In any case that is a large number traveling.
They actually have night time speed limits of 55 or 65 miles an hour(I forget which).
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Yep used to be 65MPH at night on interstates. That has been removed and the day/night
is now the same. It has been raise to 75+ in many rural areas.
That’s it. I read it once but could not remember the exact number. I knew it would spur a discussion and someone would find it.
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