Although the Baylor Football team opened the season unranked with many so-called football “experts” predicting the Bears would finish the season in the bottom half of the Big 12, the Bears moved up and down the ranks of the Associated Press Top 25 over the course of the 2021 season. Now at the end of the season surpassing all expectations from last year’s 2-7 record, the Bears recorded their highest ever final ranking at No. 5 in the country! Baylor first entered the poll following consecutive wins over West Virginia, now-ranked No. 19 BYU (read my BYU recap here and watch the Cougars game with me and dad!), and the University of Texas (read my recap of the UT game here and watch the Longhorns game with me and dad here!), but after their second loss of the season against unranked TCU, the Bears dropped a handful of spots to No. 18. However, two not-so-great defeats by Oklahoma State and the Horned Frogs didn’t keep Baylor down for long and with their top 15 victory over then-ranked No. 4 Oklahoma (read my recap of the Oklahoma game here and watch the Sooners game with me and dad!), the Bears moved up 7 spots to the No. 11 placement. With yet another victory over Kansas State—one of the best offenses and QBs in the Big 12 Conference—(read my recap of the game here and watch the Wildcats matchup with me and dad here!) Baylor jumped two more spots and cracked the AP Top 10 with a No. 9 ranking! The Bears continued their winning streak with victories over Texas Tech (read my recap of the game here and watch the Red Raiders matchup with me and dad here!), then-ranked No. 5 Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Championship (read my recap of the game here and watch the Cowboys matchup with me and dad here!), and finally then-ranked No. 8 Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl to end the historic season (read my recap of the game here and watch the “Rebels” matchup with me and dad here!)! I don’t think anyone could have predicted Baylor’s rise from last season’s struggles to their highest final ranking in program history within one season, but damn are we lucky to have witnessed and celebrated the best Baylor Football team ever!
