Baylor would be a perfect fit in the SEC and would be able to hang with SEC teams in football. This is the theory postulated by Waco Tribune-Herald writer Mitch Blomert, yet it’s one we cannot embrace.
Writing about the topic for reasons not fully explained, Blomert expressed his belief that Baylor would be a “perfect fit for the conference” while noting it won’t likely happen anyway.
“Let’s face it. The Bears can hang with SEC teams in football. Put them in the SEC West, and they’re probably a contender for the division, logjammed at the top with Alabama. I believe last year’s team would have beaten both Mississippi schools, Auburn, Arkansas, LSU and — gasp! — Texas A&M.
“Put them in the East, and Baylor is headed to the Georgia Dome for the championship game. Last year’s East champ, Missouri, might have been the weakest division winner in years. Even Georgia, which cracked the top 10 to close out the 2014 season, demonstrated too much inconsistency throughout the season to potentially handle the Bears’ tantalizing offense.”
Let’s not stop there. Put Baylor in the SEC, and the Bears will surely win five championships in a row.
All kidding aside, while Baylor surely does possess one of the top 25 college football programs annually, it’s crazy talk to say the school would automatically have the same success in the SEC. It’s one thing to put together a couple 11-2 seasons in a row playing in the Big 12 and quite another to do the same thing playing teams like Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Missouri, and Georgia all year long.
The defenses that live in the SEC are mostly bigger, faster and stronger than the competition Baylor is used to facing on a regular basis in the Big 12. And the gimmicky offense? That would be quickly exposed as a fraud.
Instead of an 11-2 record, the Bears would likely be landing somewhere around the 9-4 mark.
The Big 12 isn’t as prestigious as the SEC, but then again, neither is Baylor as prestigious as Alabama and the other top SEC schools. Baylor is right where it belongs, despite Blombert’s attempt to re-write history.
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