Baylor’s Scott Drew is among the midseason favorites for coach of the year (AP). As Baylor closed out a*61-57 victory over Oklahoma State on Saturday night, an unfamiliar chant erupted from the student section.
“No. 1, No. 1,” the students chanted.
For the first time in school history, Baylor is poised to ascend to No. 1 when the new AP Top 25 is released Monday morning. After top-ranked Villanova stumbled at Butler earlier this week, the second-ranked Bears took advantage by edging Iowa State and Oklahoma State at home to improve to 15-0 this season.
If Baylor reaches No. 1, it will be another milestone in*one of the most impressive turnarounds in college basketball history.*Hired 14 years ago to revive a long-struggling program rocked by Patrick Dennehy’s murder, Baylor coach Scott Drew inherited a stripped-bare*roster, a postseason ban and a flurry of other NCAA sanctions.
All Drew has done since is breathe life into the program and take the Bears to the NCAA tournament in six of the past nine years.*Two of those trips ended with losses to the eventual national champion in the Elite Eight and a third concluded with a loss to a Final Four team in the Sweet 16.
Whereas Drew landed a McDonald’s All-American in 2010, 2011 and 2012, he has won more recently by developing less heralded prospects.
There are no Rivals top 50 prospects on Baylor’s current roster.*The Bears did not receive a single vote in either preseason poll after losing their*leading scorer to the NBA, their top rebounder to the NFL and their starting point guard to graduation.
The loss of Taurean Prince, Rico Gathers and Lester Medford has allowed other players to shine.
Baylor’s most potent weapon is Johnathan Motley, an athletic, powerfully built forward who has performed with the consistency he lacked in previous years. Motley is averaging 16.0 points and 9.3 rebounds, signs he is becoming more comfortable in a go-to role after years of deferring to Gathers and Prince at Baylor and to the Harrison twins and Wesley Iwundu on his star-studded AAU team.
In addition to Motley’s breakout season, Baylor has also benefited from Miami transfer Manu Lecomte’s seamless transition to point guard and Jo Lual-Acuil’s emergence as an elite rim protector. Al Freeman has also provided complementary scoring, while Ishmail Wainright is a do-it-all wing who thrives defensively.
That quintet has helped Baylor stay undefeated despite a schedule riddled with top 50 opponents. The Bears boast victories over Louisville, Oregon, Xavier, Michigan State, VCU, Iowa State and Oklahoma State, maybe the best collection of wins of any team in the nation so far this season.
It was Motley and Lecomte who led the way for Baylor against Oklahoma State on Saturday. Lecomte scored a team-high 17 points and Motley posted 13 points and 10 rebounds as the Bears rallied from a seven-point early second-half deficit to improve to 3-0 in Big 12 play.
While Baylor is a deserving No. 1 team, the Bears will be hard-pressed to stay atop the polls very long. *Up next for Baylor are road games at seventh-ranked West Virginia on Tuesday and Kansas State on Saturday.

The Bears will be underdogs in at least one of those games if not both, yet chances are that won’t bother them.
This is a program that has thrived in an underdog role for more than a decade now on its unlikely journey from scandal-tainted laughingstock to perennial NCAA tournament team.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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