College Football

Baylor football schedule 2013: Opponents, game dates and more

Can the Bears keep their momentum going after losing yet another prolific quarterback? Let’s take a look at their schedule and see how their season breaks down.

by Peter Berkes

Aug 27, 2013, 3:00 PM UTC

USA TODAY Sports

Art Briles and the Baylor Bears have established themselves as a program that should be taken seriously. It may have taken a Heisman Trophy winner in Robert Griffin III to get them to that level, but they were able to maintain it in 2012 when Griffin was in the NFL. They're changing quarterbacks again in 2013, going from Nick Florence to Bryce Petty, but the offensive machinery led by Lache Seastrunk should continue to roll onward. Let's take a look at their schedule to see what we can expect from the 2013 Bears.

2013 Baylor schedule


Date	Opponent	Conf.	Projected ranking
8/31/2013	Wofford	FCS
9/7/2013	Buffalo	MAC	97
9/14/2013	Open Date
9/21/2013	UL-Monroe	SBC	78
9/28/2013	Open Date
10/5/2013	West Virginia	B12	47
10/12/2013	at Kansas State	B12	41
10/19/2013	Iowa State	B12	83
10/26/2013	at Kansas	B12	103
11/2/2013	Open Date
11/7/2013	Oklahoma	B12	8
11/16/2013	Texas Tech (Arlington, TX)	B12	42
11/23/2013	at Oklahoma State	B12	5
11/30/2013	at TCU	B12	12
12/7/2013	Texas	B12	6
Date	Opponent	Conf.	Projected ranking

Projections from Football Outsiders’ 2013 college football almanac.

More: For more on Baylor football, check out Our Daily Bears An interview with Art Briles

Baylor’s season breaks down into two halves. The first half gives the Bears an easy run in for the second half, which is good because it will need it. Baylor doesn’t leave Waco until mid-October when it plays Kansas State, and it should be undefeated when it makes the trip up to Manhattan. It has a pair of manageable games after that against Iowa State and Kansas, but things get hairy after that.

After a bye week at the beginning of November, Baylor plays Oklahoma at home, Texas Tech in Arlington, back to back road trips to Oklahoma State and TCU, and finishes the season against Texas at home. Four of those teams are projected to finish in the top 12 in the nation, and Texas Tech is no pushover. Baylor won’t be able to outscore all of those teams, and it remains to be seen whether its defense is up to the task.

Many thought there would be a significant drop when Baylor transitioned from Robert Griffin III to Nick Florence, but it didn’t happen. Briles has earned the benefit of the doubt at this point, and it’s hard to imagine this Baylor team missing out on a bowl game. Its late season schedule is brutal, but this is still a team that can get to seven or eight wins.