Baylor Bears football

The Baylor Bears football team represents Baylor University in Division I FBS college football. They are a member of the Big 12 Conference. The team plays its home games at Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco, Texas.

History
Baylor University's football team has seen a wide variation in its success through the years, from a 3–0 record in 1900 to a 0–10 record in 1969. Baylor has many traditions such as the Battle of the Brazos rivalry, the world's first homecoming in 1909, neutral site games at The State Fair of Texas, membership in the historic Southwest Conference, a live bear mascot since 1915 and the Baylor Line. Baylor won the SWC Championship in 1922 and then again in 1924. In 1956 Baylor came close to the SWC title again but came in second and was sent to face the #2 Tennessee Volunteers in the 1957 Sugar Bowl. Baylor defeated Johnny Majors and the #2 Volunteers 13-7. This remains the highest ranked opponent Baylor has ever defeated. The 1924 SWC Championship would be the last for 50 years until Baylor won it all again in 1974 under the leadership of third year head coach Grant Teaff--who was named national coach of the year that year. Teaff would go on to serve until 1992 leading Baylor to 8 bowl games and two conference chamionships (1974, 1980) in his 21 years as coach.

Miracle on the Brazos
The 1974 SWC Championship season was the most memorable in school history. Baylor had finished in last place in 1973 and had not won the conference in 50 years. Furthermore, coming into the '74 season Baylor had lost 16 consecutive seasons to the University of Texas Longhorns. BU not only won the conference title but defeated the Longhorns, which marked the first time in seven seasons that Texas did not win the SWC. The '74 BU season is dubbed the "Miracle on the Brazos".

2008 Season
The 2008 season was highlighted by a non-conference win over Washington State (who finished the season 2-11), a win over rival Texas A&M and a 5th-place (of 6 competing) conference finish.

2009 season
The 2009 season was highlighted by a non-conference road win against Wake Forest, a road win against two-time Big 12 North defending champions Missouri, two games televised on ABC and a neutral site battle with rival Texas Tech at Cowboys Stadium (a 20-13 loss).

2010 season
The 2010 season features a road game against rival TCU (AP #4) and a battle against rival Texas Tech at the State Fair of Texas in the Cotton Bowl. On Sunday, October 24, 2010, the Baylor Bears appeared in the BCS rankings at #25. This marked the first time Baylor being ranked since 1993. Unfortunately Baylor quickly dropped back out of the top twenty-five after suffering a blow-out loss to Oklahoma State. Baylor followed this loss with home losses to both Texas A&M and Oklahoma, leaving Baylor with a 7-5 regular season record, along with a 4-4 conference record placing them in the lower half of the Big XII South Division standings, but 6th in the Big XII.

Championships
Baylor has 5 Southwest Conference championships. Baylor also won the 1915 Southwest Conference championship, but the title was forfeited voluntarily after Baylor discovered that a transfer player was ineligible to have played.

† Denotes shared title.

Bowl Games
Baylor has appeared in 5 New Year's Day bowl games and 5 major bowl games.

College Football Hall of Famers
Two Baylor coaches and six Baylor players have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Morley Jennings - Head Coach (1926–1940) Barton Koch - G (1927–1930) Hayden Fry - QB (1947–1950) Jim Ray Smith - T (1950–1953) Bill Glass - DE (1954–1956) Larry Elkins - WR (1963–1964) Grant Teaff - Head Coach (1972–1992) Mike Singletary - LB (1977–1980) Thomas Everett - FS (1985–1987)

Texas A&M
Texas A&M is one of Baylor's rival as the series dates from 1899 and the two schools are located 90 miles apart on the Brazos River. Texas A&M holds a 67-21-9 lead in football victories in the Battle of the Brazos. A significant number of those victories were earned during the Jackie Sherrill and RC Slocum eras, during which A&M was cited twice for "lack of institutional control" and "unethical conduct" causing the program to be put on probation and receive a two year post-season ban.

Texas
Dating back to 1901, the series is 73-22-4 in favor of Texas. Texas had won 12 in a row (and 16 of 17) in the series until 2010, when Baylor upset the Longhorns in Austin.

Texas Tech
Along with Texas A&M, the Baylor Bears are Texas Tech's most played opponent with 68 meetings between the teams. Dating back to 1929, the series is 35-32-1 in favor of Texas Tech. Tech has won 14 in a row in the series. Since 2009, the Bears have played Texas Tech on a neutral field the Saturday after Thanksgiving (with the exception of the 2010 game which was played at the Cotton Bowl during the State Fair of Texas). The series between the Bears and Red Raiders will continue to be played on Thanksgiving Weekend.

TCU
Baylor's rivalry with TCU is one of the most played in college football. Dating back to 1899, TCU leads the series 50-49-7. The series began while TCU was located in Waco, Texas as a cross-town rivalry with Baylor. Due to their close proximity, twenty-three games were played between 1899 and 1910. A fire in 1910 destroyed the Main Building on the TCU campus and financial incentives from the city of Fort Worth convinced the Board of Trustees to relocate the university to that city. There was a ten year break in the series when the dissolution of the Southwest Conference in 1995 resulted in the two universities joining separate athletic conferences. The series resumed in Waco for the 2006 home opener with subsequent games being played in 2007 and 2010.

National

 * Sammy Baugh Trophy
 * Don Trull, 1962
 * Don Trull, 1963


 * AFCA Coach of the Year
 * Grant Teaff, 1974


 * Davey O'Brien Award
 * Mike Singletary, 1979
 * Mike Singletary, 1980


 * Jim Thorpe Award
 * Thomas Everett, 1986


 * Ray Guy Award
 * Daniel Sepulveda, 2004
 * Daniel Sepulveda, 2006

Conference

 * Southwest Conference Coach of the Year
 * Grant Teaff, 1974
 * Grant Teaff, 1978


 * Southwest Conference Player of the Year
 * Mike Singletary, 1979
 * Mike Singletary, 1980
 * Thomas Everett, 1986
 * Thomas Everett, 1987

Bears in the NFL
As of 15 August 2010, ten former Baylor players were listed on active NFL rosters:


 * Colin Allred, LB, Tennessee Titans
 * Josh Bell, CB, Green Bay Packers
 * Matt Bryant, PK, Atlanta Falcons
 * Jason Smith, OL, St. Louis Rams
 * Mike Singletary, Head Coach, San Francisco 49ers
 * Daniel Sepulveda, P, Pittsburgh Steelers
 * Justin Snow, C, Indianapolis Colts
 * C. J. Wilson, S, Carolina Panthers
 * Dominique Zeigler, WR, San Francisco 49ers
 * Trent Shelton, WR, Washington Redskins
 * J.D. Walton, C, Denver Broncos
 * David Gettis, WR, Carolina Panthers