Baylor Bears

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Baylor Bears is the name for sports teams of Baylor University. Baylor's men's sports teams are nicknamed the Bears, and some women's teams are nicknamed the Lady Bears. Student athletes participate in the NCAA's Division I, and Baylor is the only private school in the Big 12 Conference. Prior to joining the Big 12, Baylor was a member of the Southwest Conference from the conference's charter in 1914 until its dissolution in 1996. Baylor has carried over its rivalries from the now-defunct Southwest Conference, the most important of which are with Texas A&M University and with the University of Texas at Austin.

Baylor won its first team NCAA title in 2004 as the men's tennis team defeated UCLA in the championship game.

The mascot of Baylor University is a bear named Judge.

[edit] Track and field

Aerial view of Baylor's Turner Riverfront Complex, depicting the Ferrell Center, Baylor Ballpark, Getterman Stadium, the Baylor Tennis Center, and the Betty Lou Mays Soccer Field.

Baylor's most notable sports program is perhaps its track and field team, producing 466 All-Americans under the 42-year tenure of head coach Clyde Hart. The greatest standout of the track program has been its men's 4x400 relay team, which has sent teams to the NCAA finals in each of the past 27 years and produced three Olympic gold medalists: Michael Johnson, Jeremy Wariner and Darold Williamson. In 2005, Clyde Hart became Director of Track & Field, and Todd Harbour took over as head coach of Baylor's track and field and cross county squads.

[edit] Baseball

Baylor's baseball team is one of the most successful athletic programs at Baylor. Since the inception of the Big 12 Conference, Baylor has carried the best conference record at 137-83 (.623) under head coach Steve Smith.

The 2005 Bears played one of the toughest schedules in the nation and went all the way to Omaha where they finally lost to the University of Texas, whom they had beaten 3 times during conference play. The Bears' strength was their pitching, with a weekend rotation of Trey Taylor, Cory VanAllen and Mark McCormick with closers Abe Woody and Ryan LaMotta. While their offense was poor during the regular season, during the post season the offense produced. Many players from this team have gone on to play in the major leagues.

[edit] Basketball

The Baylor Lady Bears won the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship in 2005. Coached by Kim Mulkey-Robertson, the Lady Bears defeated the Spartans of Michigan State University 84-62. Mulkey-Robertson became the first women's coach and only the third coach in history to win an NCAA basketball championship as both a player and a coach, joining Dean Smith and Bob Knight.

The men's basketball program was plagued by scandal in 2003. Patrick Dennehy, a player for the team, was murdered by a former player for the team, and then-coach Dave Bliss was forced to resign amidst allegations that he had made improper financial payments to players and planned to cover his actions by characterizing Dennehy as a drug dealer. The school placed itself on probation, limited itself to 7 scholarships for two years and imposed a post-season ban for one year. Additionally, the NCAA further punished the team by initiating a non-conference ban for the 2005-2006 season and extending the probationary period during which the school would have limited recruiting privileges.

The 2005 Bears were hindered by only having 7 scholarship players and recorded only one win in conference play. In spite of these challenges, head coach Scott Drew was able to put together a 2005 signing class ranked No. 7 nationally by HoopScoop. The 2006 Bears include Aaron Bruce, the highest scoring freshman in the NCAA in 2005, and Mamadou Diene, rated one of the top 10 centers for the 2007 NBA draft.

Students celebrate Baylor Football's 2004 victory over Texas A&M at Floyd Casey Stadium.

[edit] Football

The Baylor football team plays at Floyd Casey Stadium, located a few miles away from campus. The stadium was created in 1950 and currently seats more than 50,000 fans.

Since joining the Big 12 conference in 1996, Baylor has held a 9-35 record in regular season play, with its best season coming in 2005. The current head coach, Guy Morriss, came to Baylor from Kentucky in 2003. In 2004, Baylor defeated its first ranked opponent since 1998, #16 ranked Texas A&M, by a score of 35-34 in overtime on a two-point conversion [1]. In 2005 the team opened 3-0 for the first time since 1996 and finished 5-6; Baylor also won its first Big 12 road game in school history at Iowa State.