The Baylor Football team (6-6, 4-5) aren’t seeing the same successful post-regular season placement as they did last year or in 2019, but the Bears still received a bowl berth! On my birthday (December 22), the Bears will face Air Force (9-3, 5-3) in the 2022 Armed Forces Bowl (we absolutely despise war criminal corporation Lockheed Martin and do not support any connection to that murderous place) at TCU’s Amon G. Carter Stadium. The game will air on ESPN at 6:30 p.m. (CT) and it will be the 11th bowl game Baylor will participate in over the past 13 years. Many Baylor fans were undoubtedly shocked at the selection by the Armed Forces Bowl in a conference opponent’s stadium because the Bears’ fellow non-ranked bowling Big 12 members are all in higher caliber matchups against strong challengers. Oklahoma State (7-5, 4-5) is facing Wisconsin in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl on December 27, Kansas (6-6, 3-6) will challenge Arkansas in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl on December 28 (The Jayhawks’ first bowl game since 2008), Texas Tech (7-5, 5-4) is going against Ole Miss in the TaxAct Texas Bowl on December 28, and Oklahoma (6-6, 3-6) will play against No. 13 Florida State in the Cheez-It Bowl on December 29. It isn’t to say that Air Force isn’t a strong contender for the game’s victor (they do have a better season record than the Bears), but the Armed Forces Bowl may not be what fans expected when Baylor earned their bowl eligibility. According to Baylor Athletics’ Jerry Hill (papa), “Baylor will be facing Air Force for the fourth time in program history. The Bears have won all three prior meetings, as the two sides last met in 1977 with BU coming out on top, 38-7, in Waco. This season, the Falcons went 9-3 overall and 5-3 in the Mountain West with the nation’s top rushing offense (330.9 yards per game) and third-best scoring defense (13.2 points allowed per game).” Either way, the Bears have another opportunity to gain experience for the young players and send the seniors out with a final win in the green and gold!
