Ranking the Top 131 College Football Programs of the Last 40 Years: 51. Baylor
The 2010s Saved Baylor
Baylor has a better history than I thought. They haven’t been totally helpless like they were in the 2000’s, instead they have an all-time 622-590-44 record, 26 bowl appearances, 18 consensus All-Americans, and even a Heisman winner. Whatever your opinion is on Baylor—they are a rising program, and seem to be willing to invest money into athletics.
Best Seasons and Highlights
+------+--------+------+--------------+--------+
| rank | team | year | resume score | record |
+------+--------+------+--------------+--------+
| 5 | Baylor | 2021 | 40.761 | 12-2 |
| 5 | Baylor | 2013 | 39.735 | 11-2 |
| 8 | Baylor | 2014 | 35.501 | 11-2 |
| 12 | Baylor | 2015 | 29.631 | 10-3 |
| 17 | Baylor | 2011 | 26.731 | 10-3 |
| 14 | Baylor | 1985 | 26.172 | 9-3 |
| 17 | Baylor | 2019 | 26.158 | 11-3 |
| 19 | Baylor | 1986 | 18.995 | 9-3 |
| 32 | Baylor | 2012 | 12.804 | 8-5 |
| 29 | Baylor | 1991 | 10.609 | 8-4 |
| 37 | Baylor | 1983 | 7.014 | 7-4-1 |
| 34 | Baylor | 1995 | 6.415 | 7-4 |
| 32 | Baylor | 1992 | 3.61 | 7-5 |
| 42 | Baylor | 1990 | 0.505 | 6-4-1 |
| 42 | Baylor | 1994 | -2.727 | 7-5 |
| 55 | Baylor | 2016 | -3.341 | 7-6 |
| 46 | Baylor | 1989 | -5.848 | 5-6 |
| 53 | Baylor | 1984 | -5.987 | 5-6 |
| 61 | Baylor | 2010 | -6.947 | 7-6 |
| 64 | Baylor | 2018 | -7.353 | 7-6 |
| 49 | Baylor | 1987 | -8.718 | 6-5 |
| 68 | Baylor | 2022 | -9.906 | 6-7 |
| 60 | Baylor | 1988 | -11.254 | 6-5 |
| 57 | Baylor | 1993 | -14.172 | 5-6 |
| 71 | Baylor | 2005 | -14.75 | 5-6 |
| 86 | Baylor | 2008 | -23.382 | 4-8 |
| 85 | Baylor | 2009 | -23.509 | 4-8 |
| 100 | Baylor | 2020 | -25.713 | 2-7 |
| 84 | Baylor | 2006 | -25.954 | 4-8 |
| 82 | Baylor | 1996 | -27.433 | 4-7 |
| 90 | Baylor | 1998 | -35.428 | 2-9 |
| 99 | Baylor | 2004 | -36.519 | 3-8 |
| 94 | Baylor | 2001 | -38.476 | 3-8 |
| 96 | Baylor | 1997 | -41.419 | 2-9 |
| 105 | Baylor | 2007 | -43.459 | 3-9 |
| 102 | Baylor | 2003 | -44.79 | 3-9 |
| 102 | Baylor | 2000 | -45.747 | 2-9 |
| 105 | Baylor | 2002 | -48.266 | 3-9 |
| 120 | Baylor | 2017 | -51.707 | 1-11 |
| 112 | Baylor | 1999 | -58.874 | 1-10 |
+------+--------+------+--------------+--------+
Overall Score: 21005 (51st)233-240-2 record
4 conference titles
9-8 bowl record
11 consensus All-Americans
86 NFL players drafted
Look at the top of the list and you’ll see the 2010’s. Look at the bottom and you’ll see the 2000’s. Again, no matter your opinion on him, you can’t deny Art Briles’ on-field success, leading Baylor to 4 of their top 5 seasons. In fact, 6 of the top 7 seasons, and 7 of the top 9, have come since 2011. Contrast that with the bottom, where 11 of the worst 12 seasons were from 1996-2007. But yes, aside from a SWC title in 1994, Baylor’s seen major success since 2011, winning 3 Big 12 titles. The consensus All-Americans we won’t discuss below include DB Thomas Everett (1986) who won the Jim Thorpe Award, DL Santana Dotson (1991), P Daniel Sepulveda (2006) who was a 2x Ray Guy Award winner, and DT James Lynch (2019) who won Big 12 Defensive POTY with 13.5 sacks. There haven’t been a ton of notable NFL players out of Baylor in the last 40 years, but the names that would stick out most to recent fans are QB Robert Griffin III, WR Josh Gordon, CB Xavien Howard, and K Matt Bryant. Mike Singletary misses the cut by a few years.
Top 5 Seasons
Worst Season: 1999 (1-10 overall, 0-8 Big 12)
Baylor didn’t make a bowl from 1995-2009. In week 2, Baylor was up 24-21 on UNLV, at the UNLV 8 yard line, with just 20 seconds left, and UNLV had no timeouts. All Baylor had to do was take one more knee, and they’d get their first win on the season. Instead, they handed the ball off, trying to score one last touchdown for style points. RB Darrel Bush took it up the middle to the 1 yard line, then UNLV popped the ball free, picked it up in the end zone, and returned it back for a 101 yard TD on the last play of the game. UNLV wins 27-24. If there was ever a time a team had a 99.99% win percentage and lost, this was the game. I don’t know how Baylor could play the rest of the season after that, but they did, albeit poorly. The next 2 losses were 10-41 to Oklahoma and 0-62 to Texas, before getting their only win over North Texas. They lost their last 6 games by a combined 51-244. The QBs on this team combined for 4 TD 13 INT, and only 1 player was drafted into the NFL over the next 3 years.
5. 2011 (10-3 overall, 6-3 Big 12)
“SOMETIMES YOU’D RATHER BE LUCKY THAN GOOD!”
2011 Baylor won the hearts of everyone (except TCU fans), winning 10 games for the first time in 30 years and QB Robert Griffin III winning the school’s first ever Heisman. They started with one of the best games of the year, upsetting #14 TCU 50-48 in a thriller. TCU had given up just 12.0 PPG the year prior! Through the first 3 weeks, RGIII actually had more touchdowns (13) than incomplete passes (12), and was already on people’s Heisman radar. But by midseason, Baylor had fallen to 4-3, and RGIII fell to 12th in Vegas’ Heisman odds. Enter LeBron 2012 Eastern Conference Finals game 6 against Boston stare from RGIII. Baylor didn’t lose another game, going 6-0 and averaging 49.8 PPG. A 45-38 win over #5 Oklahoma on ABC was one of the biggest wins in school history, with RGIII generating 551 yards and 4 TD on offense. A 48-24 win over #22 Texas capped the season as the 3rd placed Big 12 team, and a 67-56 win over Washington in the bowl saw RGIII cement himslf as the best player in the country.
RGIII won the Heisman, throwing for 4293 yards 37 TD 6 INT with 700 rushing yards and 10 TD. RB Terrance Ganaway was a great backfield mate, leading the Big 12 in rushing yards with 1547 and 21 TD. WR Kendall Wright was a 1st Team All-American and by far RGIII’s favorite target, catching 108 passes for 1663 yards and 14 TD. WR2 Terrance Williams had 957 yards and 11 TD, and would earn consensus All-American honors in 2012, leading the country in receiving yards with 1832. Those were the main contributors, although it’s worth nothing they had an offensive lineman named Robert T. Griffin (no relation) drafted in the 6th round after the season.
4. 2015 (10-3 overall, 6-3 Big 12)
Baylor started with massive expectations, their highest ever preseason ranking at #4. And through the first half the season, they were one of the most unstoppable offenses the game had ever seen, averaging 63.8(!!) PPG in their first 6 games. The mask started to slip a bit as competition got tougher and injuries to starting QB Seth Russell started to take a toll. Backup QB Jarrett Stidham filled in just fine, but Baylor suffered their first loss to Baker Mayfield and Oklahoma 34-44 to fall to 8-1. They rebounded with a masterclass against #4 Oklahoma State, winning 45-35 thanks to 700(!) yards of total offense. But unfortunately Stidham went down in the game, and Baylor dropped their last 2 regular season games to fall to 9-3. In the bowl, despite missing their top 2 QBs, top RB, and top WR, Baylor set a bowl record with 651 rushing yards in a win over 11-2 North Carolina, thanks to 299 from Shock Linwood, 156 from Devin Chafin, 97 from Terence Williams, 63 from Lynx Hawthorne, and 36 from QB Chris Johnson. Despite all the injuries, Baylor still managed to win 10 games and finish #13.
QB Seth Russell played in just 7 games, but threw for 2100 yards 29 TD 6 INT with another 400 rushing yards and 6 TD, averaging 5 TDs a game. Stidham was a quality backup, completing 69% of throws for 1265 yards 12 TD 2 INT. RBs Shock Linwood and Johnny Jefferson each ran for 1000+ yards, combining for 2329 rushing yards and 18 TD on 7.0 YPC. WR Corey Coleman won the Biletnikoff with a MONSTROUS year, catching just 74 passes but for 1363 yards and 20 TD. The awards didn’t stop there; OL Spencer Drango was a consensus All-American and won the Big 12’s Offensive Lineman POTY. DT Andrew Billings was a 1st Team All-American and won Big 12 Defensive POTY, while CB Xavien Howard had 5 INTs and has gone on to lead the NFL in interceptions twice.
3. 2014 (11-2 overall, 8-1 Big 12)
There’s a theme with these Art Briles teams, and that’s a ton of offense. This team probably was Baylor’s best shot at winning a national title, as they had a few top 25 wins and the only loss was a mid-season road trap game loss. Baylor opened up 5-0 before going down 37-58 at home to #9 TCU. This was one of the most memorable games of the 2010’s, as Baylor’s high-paced offense got to work, scoring 3 touchdowns in a 6 minute span before kicking a FG with no time left to win 61-58. They lost the trap game the next week, 27-41 on the road to West Virginia, but wouldn’t lose in the regular season again afterward. Wins included 48-14 at #15 Oklahoma, 48-46 over Texas Tech despite giving up 600 yards to Patrick Mahomes, and 38-27 over #9 Kansas State to win the Big 12 title. Despite both Baylor and TCU finishing 11-1, both missed the playoff, mostly due to the Big 12 not having a conference championship game while the other Power 5 conferences did, so neither had a chance to add another quality win to their resume. Instead Baylor played in the Cotton Bowl against #5 Michigan State, but lost a 41-21 lead in the 4th quarter, falling 41-42.
The offense led the country in PPG for the 2nd straight year (and would threepeat in 2015), averaging 48.2 PPG. QB Bryce Petty had a good senior year, throwing for 29 TD 7 INT while rushing for 6 TD. RB Shock Linwood was 1st Team All-B12 with 1252 rushing yards and 16 TD. OL Spencer Drango was a consensus All-American, and the 6’9 280 lb DE Shawn Oakman had 11 sacks and 8.5 TFL.
2. 2013 (11-2 overall, 8-1 Big 12)
Baylor’s had some really good offenses, like with RGIII in 2011 and the 2014 + 2015 offenses that led the nation in scoring. But 2013 takes the cake as the best in school history. Despite being unranked to start the year, Baylor started 9-0, averaging 61.2 PPG!!! In 9 games!!! Their Big 12 wins included 73-42 over West Virginia, 71-7 over Iowa State, 59-14 over Kansas, 41-12 over #12 Oklahoma, and 63-34 over Texas Tech in the BU-TT bowl. #3 Baylor was just 3 games away from a national title appearance, but fell victim to a huge 17-49 upset in Stillwater vs #11 Oklahoma State. The offense was more tame to end the year, as Baylor averaged “just” 32.5 PPG in their final 4 games. Baylor finished 11-1 and Oklahoma State lost to Oklahoma on the final day, giving Baylor the Big 12 title. Despite being 17 point favorites over #15 UCF in the bowl, Baylor fell 42-52. They ended up just #13 in the AP Poll, but personally I thought that was harsh for the great year they had, and they were 5th in my rankings.
Baylor had one of the most potent offenses the game had ever seen, averaging 52.4 PPG (while giving up just 23.5 PPG). QB Bryce Petty was incredibly good about not turning the ball over, winning Big 12 Offensive POTY by throwing for 4200 yards and 32 TD to just 3 INT. He also ran for 14 TDs. A whopping 6 Baylor players made the 1st Team All-Big 12 Offense, such as 1000 yarders RB Lache Seastrunk and WR Antwan Goodley, and consensus All-American OL Cyril Richardson. On the defensive side, S Ahmad Dixon was a 2nd Team All-American.
2013 Baylor is my 180th best team since 1983.
1. 2021 (12-2 overall, 7-2 Big 12)
But despite all those great years that seemed like Baylor’s peak, the best season in school history came from Dave Aranda in 2021, long after the Art Briles years and after sanctions and scorn had riddled the program. Baylor had struggled in recent years, going just 28-33 from 2016-20. Specifically they were coming off a 2-7 year, and were picked 8th out of the 10 Big 12 teams for 2021. A ragtag bunch, they started 3-0 but nobody took them even somewhat seriously until a 31-29 upset win over #14 Iowa State in game 4. They followed that up with a road loss to #19 Oklahoma State, and Baylor was 4-1 (2-1 Big 12). After a comfortable win over West Virginia, Baylor announced they were legit with a 38-24 win over #19 BYU, moving all the way from unranked to #16. Even against 4-3 Texas, who people still weren’t sure if Baylor was good enough to beat yet, the Bears won 31-24. Baylor continued to be underdogs all year long, and losing on the road to 3-5 TCU didn’t help. Baylor would have to win out to make the Big 12 title game, and they did, beating #4 Oklahoma, Kansas State, and Texas Tech to finish 10-2.
It was a rematch of the game earlier in the year, this time #5 Oklahoma State vs #9 Baylor. OSU entered as 7 point favorites, but it was Baylor who jumped out to a 21-3 lead, staving off an OSU comeback the rest of the game. In one of the wildest finishes you’ll ever see, Baylor stopped OSU at the inches line on the final play, winning 21-16 to claim the Big 12 title. They followed up with a Sugar Bowl win, beating #8 Ole Miss 21-7. Baylor’s 12 wins and #5 postseason ranking were both the most in school history. It was a ragtag group, with just 4 players making 1st Team All-Big 12, well behind Iowa State (8 players) and Oklahoma State (8 players). RB Abram Smith led the conference in rushing with 1601 yards, and the 4.28 speed WR Tyquan Thornton had 948 receiving yards and 10 TD. OT Connor Galvin was an All-American, S Jalen Pitre was a consensus All-American and the Big 12 Defensive POTY, and KR Trestan Ebner was the Big 12 Special Teams POTY.
2021 Baylor is my 157th best team since 1983.
5th Quarter
Do you agree with the ranking of Baylor’s individual seasons? Which offense was the best from 2011-15? Is that 5 year stretch the best 5 year offense we’ve seen in college football history? Out of all the games Baylor’s played in the last 10-15 years, which has been the most impactful for the program? Agree with Baylor’s ranking, or too harsh given their success in recent years? Will they be a premier team in the Big 12 going forward? Where does RGIII rank among Heisman winners?
Ranking the Top 131 College Football Programs of the Last 40 Years - Main Hub