College Football: 5 surprises from 2016 AP Preseason Poll
By John Buhler
1. Baylor gets the benefit of the doubt.
Much to the chagrin of people outside of Waco, Texas, the AP voters had the courage to put the reviled Baylor Bears in their initial top 25 with a No. 23 ranking. Baylor obviously has the on-field talent to be at best a top 10 program, but their sexual assault scandal has absolutely tarnished the view of the former Big 12 behemoth.
Losing Art Briles as head coach should cost the Bears at least two or three games this fall. Though interim head coach Jim Grobe had success coaching another historical football doormat in the ACC’s Wake Forest Demon Deacons, Grobe’s gridiron success in Winston-Salem was about a decade ago. Has the game passed him by?
Baylor doesn’t play championship caliber defense and one has to expect that the Air Raid offense will take a step or two back now that Briles isn’t calling the shots from the sidelines. On a talent standpoint, Baylor certainly feels like one of the four best teams in the Big 12. However, do they have the mental fortitude to overcome being the most hated program in the country this fall?
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Sitting at No. 23 behind Oklahoma at No. 3, TCU at No. 13, and Oklahoma State at No. 21 has the Bears in a favorable spot to win the Big 12 in 2016 against all odds. Since the Big 12 plays everybody in conference annually and Baylor always plays a soft non-conference schedule, they could theoretically win the Power 5 conference. However, to see the AP voters actually give the Bears the benefit of the doubt all things considered is a bit strange.