Is Over!
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 ...
What happened to the Longhorns? They used to be a perennial contender. Now all you hear about is A&M and Baylor.
70% of the people that live in Texas live within 30 miles of either side of I-35. It is a miserable drive from basically Denton to San Antonio unless you do it in the dead of night.
Go Bears!
Coaching, recruiting. Longhorns will be back because they have so much booty in their war chest with which to reward an elite coach and slew of players.
Baylor reminds me of Oregon but are much more physical and better coached. Look out, Tide.
A&M I can understand because of their long tradition. Baylor is interesting as more of an upstart. Recruiting successfully against Texas and A&M is impressive.
Maybe the parents like the Baptist connection.
“70% of the people that live in Texas live within 30 miles of either side of I-35. It is a miserable drive from basically Denton to San Antonio unless you do it in the dead of night.”
Where do you get your bogus info?
Granted I35 can be congested because of construction, but through Texas it is still one of the best maintained Interstates in the country.
Now for fun just pop on the 130 toll road that runs east of Austin from Georgetown to Seguin. Speed limit is 80! Yea, you have to pay the price, but I have not seen more than half a dozen DPS troopers on that road since it opened. Its a blast in a car that runs 150MPH+.
So go back to PA or some other overcrowded state and tell me how it compares to TEXAS!
OMG what rubbish! I-35 has been there for at least 50 years and the Wall Street Journal is just now discovering it???
Waco has had a football team that entire time and most of it was spent as the whipping boy for other Southwest Conference and Big XII teams.
Baylor’s recent success is probably the result of a stronger commitment to their athletic program than in the old days of Grant Teaff. They saw what winning in women’s basketball and then men’s basketball meant to the school’s coffers so now they are building a powerhouse football program and are erecting a new stadium for play next year.
Crediting I-35 for Baylor’s success is like crediting I-95 for Obama’s success. It has nothing at all to do with it.
I am not talking about 130 and besides 130 does not run all the way from SA to DFW. I refuse to give Perry cronies any more of my money than I have to. Temple and Waco are becoming overly congested as well and so is south I-35E around Red Oak. Try driving it on a Friday afternoon or the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.
Just look out for the hogs.
Further west, there are long stretches of both I-10 and I-20 with an 80mph speed limit; give the usual bit of rule bending, and you’re cruising the wide-opens at nearly 90 with no worries.
I-35 is a perpetual "shovel ready" project. It's a miserable drive from Irving to Denton, let alone Waco.
A quick glance of Baylor's roster indicates 80%+ is from Texas. The state has roughly 1-in-6 of the top 100 High School football teams in the nation, and most of those are in Dallas/Fort Worth, which now has over 6 million residents.
I've been seeing a lot more Baylor outerwear when I'm out and about.
The UNT football team is resurgent, and it appears that most of the team's talent is from the Metroplex. Good move, parents can make the drive to see their sons play every home game. Nice stadium, too.
You'll find me at JerryWorld tomorrow for the state playoff games. My favorite time of the year!
I'll tell you how "crowded state" driving compares to Texas and I-35.
The only speeding ticket I ever got in my 30 years of driving, which has been in mostly in "overcrowded states", was a ticket I got on I-35 at night with nobody on the road, in perfect weather, on a desolate stretch between Killeen and the Dallas airport, from which I had rented a car.
They actually have night time speed limits of 55 or 65 miles an hour(I forget which). And I was barely over the limit.
And here I thought Texas wasn't wussified.
Meanwhile I've been driving a stretch of I-95 in Connecticut and RI for years where most everybody drive 80+ mph on the open stretches and where speeding tickets are rare.
I attended several schools but I consider Baylor my alma mater. I met my wife in Waco. She lived across the street from the campus. I remember when endzone tickets were $8. Tickets on the 40 yard line weren’t too much more.
The two best games I ever saw in person were both A&M at Baylor. Each team won one with a last second field goal.
Hah! Perhaps Baylor should worry about Oklahoma State first.
Baylor will finish 10-2, with losses to Oklahoma State and Texas....I think there will be a ‘win it for Mack Brown’ theme for the Texas game.
The Razorbacks are horrible and not a contender.
Osu will be a tough game. Tx not so much.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.