PodcastDelOso

We're back with another episode! Fankhauser rejoins us this week in the wake of National Signing Day and one of the most dominant road wins of the Scott Drew era. Fank's going to be a regular fixture on the podcast for the remainder of basketball season, and we're thrilled to have him

We're talking about the aftermath of National Signing Day, recognizing just how absurd the "event" has gotten, fully realizing that we are part of the problem, but that there's nothing much to be done about it. Plus, Mike Gundy threw gas on the whole don't-tweet-at-recruits fire last week when he said the following:

(hit that link for the full quote) Yeahhhhh... Probably not the best way to shut that down. Every fan base thinks that theirs is the only team that does things right and everyone else cheats or is the shadiest team ever.

We talk about it briefly, but I must say that for the most part, I was pleased with how the majority of Baylor fans handled themselves this recruiting cycle, most significantly with Chad President in the wake of Jarrett Stidham committing and his moving to Tulsa. Baylor fans were largely supportive, and the combination of Coach Phil Montgomery and President at Tulsa means the Golden Hurricane won quite a few new fans in Baylor supporters.

Next we're talking about the coaching carousel and its relationship to National Signing Day. This is an interesting point Mark brings up that is fascinating and I won't spoil it, but it's an interesting problem, and we think that there's a fairly easy solution that won't ever happen. Give it a listen. I will say this... A global Bobby Petrino clause is something sorely needed.

The past few weeks have completely altered the expectations and outlook of this team. While the Bears have been incredible at home (Fank points out that a one-point loss to Kansas at home is all that is between us and an 18-game winning streak at home), they've struggled on the road until the past couple of weeks, culminating with Saturday's dominant win over West Virginia in Morgantown. Baylor was able to get past the Mountaineer full court press, controlling the game and preventing West Virginia from ever closing the lead to less than 14 points. Every time the Mountaineers looked like they might make a run and make the game tighter, the Bears were able to answer and rebuild the lead.

Part of what has been so impressive about this season has been the defense. Scott Drew teams have always been knocked for their lack of defense, but it seems like this squad's foundation is the defense, and the offense is only really starting to mature at this stage of the season. That's gone a good bit of distance to silencing the Scott Drew critics. Plus, this latest win is another testament to his coaching, since the only way you beat a full-game full court press like the one WVU employs is through superior coaching. It's been most impressive. Since the run last spring, the Drew detractors are becoming quieter and quieter. We here at ODB are enormous supporters of Scott Drew and hope he stays as long as he can. It is known.

What's more, this team seems to be gelling as a squad and truly operating as a team, not relying on one star for the majority of its buckets. There isn't a player that we look at and say "As Player X goes, so goes the team." That is very exciting to watch. We do talk about the development of Taurean Prince as well as the absolutely dominant season Rico Gathers is putting up on the boards. My favorite stat: Gathers has 287 rebounds in 29.1 minutes/game, coming out to 17.1 rebounds per 40 minutes. That's a pretty decent clip.

Tonight the Bears play Oklahoma State at the Ferrell. GO. GO TO THIS GAME. Thanks. That is all.

Almost. Mark has a special message towards the end.

We're back with another episode! Fankhauser rejoins us this week in the wake of National Signing Day and one of the most dominant road wins of the Scott Drew era. Fank's going to be a regular fixture on the podcast for the remainder of basketball season, and we're thrilled to have him

We're talking about the aftermath of National Signing Day, recognizing just how absurd the "event" has gotten, fully realizing that we are part of the problem, but that there's nothing much to be done about it. Plus, Mike Gundy threw gas on the whole don't-tweet-at-recruits fire last week when he said the following:

(hit that link for the full quote) Yeahhhhh... Probably not the best way to shut that down. Every fan base thinks that theirs is the only team that does things right and everyone else cheats or is the shadiest team ever.

We talk about it briefly, but I must say that for the most part, I was pleased with how the majority of Baylor fans handled themselves this recruiting cycle, most significantly with Chad President in the wake of Jarrett Stidham committing and his moving to Tulsa. Baylor fans were largely supportive, and the combination of Coach Phil Montgomery and President at Tulsa means the Golden Hurricane won quite a few new fans in Baylor supporters.

Next we're talking about the coaching carousel and its relationship to National Signing Day. This is an interesting point Mark brings up that is fascinating and I won't spoil it, but it's an interesting problem, and we think that there's a fairly easy solution that won't ever happen. Give it a listen. I will say this... A global Bobby Petrino clause is something sorely needed.

The past few weeks have completely altered the expectations and outlook of this team. While the Bears have been incredible at home (Fank points out that a one-point loss to Kansas at home is all that is between us and an 18-game winning streak at home), they've struggled on the road until the past couple of weeks, culminating with Saturday's dominant win over West Virginia in Morgantown. Baylor was able to get past the Mountaineer full court press, controlling the game and preventing West Virginia from ever closing the lead to less than 14 points. Every time the Mountaineers looked like they might make a run and make the game tighter, the Bears were able to answer and rebuild the lead.

Part of what has been so impressive about this season has been the defense. Scott Drew teams have always been knocked for their lack of defense, but it seems like this squad's foundation is the defense, and the offense is only really starting to mature at this stage of the season. That's gone a good bit of distance to silencing the Scott Drew critics. Plus, this latest win is another testament to his coaching, since the only way you beat a full-game full court press like the one WVU employs is through superior coaching. It's been most impressive. Since the run last spring, the Drew detractors are becoming quieter and quieter. We here at ODB are enormous supporters of Scott Drew and hope he stays as long as he can. It is known.

What's more, this team seems to be gelling as a squad and truly operating as a team, not relying on one star for the majority of its buckets. There isn't a player that we look at and say "As Player X goes, so goes the team." That is very exciting to watch. We do talk about the development of Taurean Prince as well as the absolutely dominant season Rico Gathers is putting up on the boards. My favorite stat: Gathers has 287 rebounds in 29.1 minutes/game, coming out to 17.1 rebounds per 40 minutes. That's a pretty decent clip.

Tonight the Bears play Oklahoma State at the Ferrell. GO. GO TO THIS GAME. Thanks. That is all.

Almost. Mark has a special message towards the end.

First things first: Lewis Franklin (brolewis here and on Twitter) and I laid this audio down in the wake of the Texas game nearly two weeks ago. I apologize for that. I was intending to try and edit it while out on vacation, but I underestimated the amount of time and energy I'd have while being active all day and then tending to two children under the age of 4 afterwards. Right after getting home last weekend I was waylaid by illness, so I didn't get to finish editing until today. I'm sorry about that.

At any rate, Lewis was kind enough to join me on the podcast to talk a little bit about the Baylor Women's basketball team, their recent successes, the expectations of this team both heading into the season and where they stand right now. Despite losing two of the most prolific players in the game in consecutive seasons, the women currently sit atop the Big 12 with an 18-1 record and are the #3 ranked team in the nation by both polls.

A huge thanks to Brother Lewis for doing this, our very first podcast dedicated to Women's Basketball! I'm thinking we'll probably do another one as the NCAA tournament approaches, so be on the lookout for that!

With football offseason in full swing, we'll most likely be ramping up some Basketball podcasts in the coming weeks to get you ready for the end of the Big 12 season, the Big 12 Tournament, and the NCAA tournament. Like I said, we'll probably do another podcast dedicated to the women also. National Signing Day is this week, so I imagine that Mark, Prashanth and I will break that down at some point. Spring football will provide some topics, but if there's anything Baylor-related that you'd like to see on the podcast, I'd greatly appreciate your suggestions. The offseason is dark and full of terrors, but we're striving to get you through it and keep your ears entertained throughout. If you have suggestions, please leave them in the comments, tweet them to me, or leave me feedback at OurDailyPodcast(at)gmail(dot)com. Thanks folks!

First things first: Lewis Franklin (brolewis here and on Twitter) and I laid this audio down in the wake of the Texas game nearly two weeks ago. I apologize for that. I was intending to try and edit it while out on vacation, but I underestimated the amount of time and energy I'd have while being active all day and then tending to two children under the age of 4 afterwards. Right after getting home last weekend I was waylaid by illness, so I didn't get to finish editing until today. I'm sorry about that.

At any rate, Lewis was kind enough to join me on the podcast to talk a little bit about the Baylor Women's basketball team, their recent successes, the expectations of this team both heading into the season and where they stand right now. Despite losing two of the most prolific players in the game in consecutive seasons, the women currently sit atop the Big 12 with an 18-1 record and are the #3 ranked team in the nation by both polls.

A huge thanks to Brother Lewis for doing this, our very first podcast dedicated to Women's Basketball! I'm thinking we'll probably do another one as the NCAA tournament approaches, so be on the lookout for that!

With football offseason in full swing, we'll most likely be ramping up some Basketball podcasts in the coming weeks to get you ready for the end of the Big 12 season, the Big 12 Tournament, and the NCAA tournament. Like I said, we'll probably do another podcast dedicated to the women also. National Signing Day is this week, so I imagine that Mark, Prashanth and I will break that down at some point. Spring football will provide some topics, but if there's anything Baylor-related that you'd like to see on the podcast, I'd greatly appreciate your suggestions. The offseason is dark and full of terrors, but we're striving to get you through it and keep your ears entertained throughout. If you have suggestions, please leave them in the comments, tweet them to me, or leave me feedback at OurDailyPodcast(at)gmail(dot)com. Thanks folks!

Well, we're back. It didn't quite take us a month to get back to podcasting after the Cotton Bowl, thank goodness. Truthfully, schedule conflicts ended up being the issue more than the "hangover" from the Cotton Bowl. But we're back now, and we're ready to bring some joy back to your ear holes.

Before you turn off the podcast, were NOT doing a full recap of the game. We're not going to be Debbie Downers. We're actually talking about some of our favorite moments. You shouldn't be afraid to listen to this part. If the loss still stings, take a listen. We're surprisingly upbeat about what happened in the game. Kendal Briles is going to be a great OC and fantastic play caller. K.D. Cannon had an otherworldly game against a fantastic defensive back. Jay Lee throwing a fantastic WR pass for a touchdown. Bryce Petty having an absolute gem of a game and setting a Cotton Bowl Record. There was plenty of really fun stuff that happened in that game, despite the outcome, and it's worth celebrating. This is out of order, but it's so good that it has to go last in this paragraph, and two words will sum it up. LaQuan McGowan. That is all.

Plus, the aftermath hasn't produced the narratives about how far off we are that we expected after that loss. That's very good news, and should be cause for optimism. There hasn't been a Preseason poll released where Baylor's not at least Top 7 at this point. While most consider the "way-too-early" preseason polls as meaningless (and for what to expect from a team, they generally are), they do tell you how your program is viewed, and Baylor is rising in the estimation of most folks. That's very exciting.

We're also talking about the hire of Cris Dishman as the Safeties Coach who will replace Brian Norwood. We're all very excited about the hire... He's got NFL chops, which is something new for our defensive staff, and we're all looking forward to seeing what he can do. If you haven't been paying attention the past few days, it appears that they're already putting him out on the recruiting trail and is making an immediate impact in that arena. It's very exciting to see.

We also talk a bit about Kendal Briles' move to OC and play caller, and the fact that we were so wrong about trick plays in the Cotton Bowl. We're happy to be wrong there, because that was fun.

Aside: Thank God that Chris Callahan is still alive.

We're in the home stretch of the 2015 Recruiting Class Season with National Signing Day, so we're looking into what's left to pursue, plus we're looking at some of recruits that have committed to Baylor in the past couple of weeks. Buckle up, folks, it's going to be a very wild ride. Specifically, we're spending some time on Eric Ogor, his ability, and why it appears that he's been lightly recruited. If he adapts to the collegiate level, the Bears could have a real gem there. And he's got one of the best names in recent memory.

Yeah, we go back into the 3-star vs. 4/5-star debate.

There's more talk here, and Pras asks the most speculative question you've ever heard on the podcast.

We sorta trip over ourselves into some basketball talk. I will say this. We. Love. Scott Drew. There's more basketball coming on the podcast! Very exciting!

Well, we're back. It didn't quite take us a month to get back to podcasting after the Cotton Bowl, thank goodness. Truthfully, schedule conflicts ended up being the issue more than the "hangover" from the Cotton Bowl. But we're back now, and we're ready to bring some joy back to your ear holes.

Before you turn off the podcast, were NOT doing a full recap of the game. We're not going to be Debbie Downers. We're actually talking about some of our favorite moments. You shouldn't be afraid to listen to this part. If the loss still stings, take a listen. We're surprisingly upbeat about what happened in the game. Kendal Briles is going to be a great OC and fantastic play caller. K.D. Cannon had an otherworldly game against a fantastic defensive back. Jay Lee throwing a fantastic WR pass for a touchdown. Bryce Petty having an absolute gem of a game and setting a Cotton Bowl Record. There was plenty of really fun stuff that happened in that game, despite the outcome, and it's worth celebrating. This is out of order, but it's so good that it has to go last in this paragraph, and two words will sum it up. LaQuan McGowan. That is all.

Plus, the aftermath hasn't produced the narratives about how far off we are that we expected after that loss. That's very good news, and should be cause for optimism. There hasn't been a Preseason poll released where Baylor's not at least Top 7 at this point. While most consider the "way-too-early" preseason polls as meaningless (and for what to expect from a team, they generally are), they do tell you how your program is viewed, and Baylor is rising in the estimation of most folks. That's very exciting.

We're also talking about the hire of Cris Dishman as the Safeties Coach who will replace Brian Norwood. We're all very excited about the hire... He's got NFL chops, which is something new for our defensive staff,  and we're all looking forward to seeing what he can do. If you haven't been paying attention the past few days, it appears that they're already putting him out on the recruiting trail and is making an immediate impact in that arena. It's very exciting to see.

We also talk a bit about Kendal Briles' move to OC and play caller, and the fact that we were so wrong about trick plays in the Cotton Bowl. We're happy to be wrong there, because that was fun.

Aside: Thank God that Chris Callahan is still alive.

We're in the home stretch of the 2015 Recruiting Class Season with National Signing Day, so we're looking into what's left to pursue, plus we're looking at some of recruits that have committed to Baylor in the past couple of weeks. Buckle up, folks, it's going to be a very wild ride. Specifically, we're spending some time on Eric Ogor, his ability, and why it appears that he's been lightly recruited. If he adapts to the collegiate level, the Bears could have a real gem there. And he's got one of the best names in recent memory.

Yeah, we go back into the 3-star vs. 4/5-star debate.

There's more talk here, and Pras asks the most speculative question you've ever heard on the podcast.

We sorta trip over ourselves into some basketball talk. I will say this. We. Love. Scott Drew. There's more basketball coming on the podcast! Very exciting!

It's time. It's almost here. The 2015 Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic is almost upon us, and we're ready to talk about it! Mark, Peter and (eventually) Prashanth put their heads together to preview this massive game, which just might be, once again, the biggest game in Baylor Football history. Prashanth joins us a few minutes late because of a certification exam or something that he had to take. But he's bringing his usual brand of analytical genius, and the podcast is better for it.

• The Big 12 had a very bad day. A very. Bad. Day.
• Strange bowl scheduling preferences
• The issue of motivation in Bowl games. Who's primed for a statement? Who's primed for a letdown?
• Michigan State is a really good football team and how that impacts readiness and preparation
• Michigan State's motivations
• Does Narduzzi taking the Pitt job have any impact on the Spartans defense? What about Montgomery and the Baylor offense?

• Pras is excited about actually getting to go to a game. He got crazy good seats for on the cheap. Peter does not have club seats. Mark does not have seats and that is sad.
• We go off the rails for just a bit here. Sorry we're not sorry. Also: Live updates from the Texas game! Oh wait... We didn't broadcast this live.
• Rehashing some of the bowl stuff with Prashanth, because he has great takes and we love him.
• Bowls as litmus tests for conference strength and statement of future success

• The fascinating statistical oddity that is the Michigan State passing attack - how do we shut down Conner Cook and Tony Lippett?
• Michigan State's rushing attack with Jeremy Langford and how our defensive line will fare against it
• Is the Baylor defensive line the best that Michigan State has seen this season?*
• Mark's key matchup: Our offense against their defense
• Kendal Briles elevated to the Offensive Coordinator and calling the plays - does that impact anything?
• Direct Message to Blake Lynch
• How much do we want to see Antwan Goodley targeted?
• Who is the Spartans' No. 2 cornerback?
• Last game of the year, Brent, can't hold anything back
• Much, much more.

It's time. It's almost here. The 2015 Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic is almost upon us, and we're ready to talk about it! Mark, Peter and (eventually) Prashanth put their heads together to preview this massive game, which just might be, once again, the biggest game in Baylor Football history. Prashanth joins us a few minutes late because of a certification exam or something that he had to take. But he's bringing his usual brand of analytical genius, and the podcast is better for it.

Since the recording of this podcast, there's been some sad news in that Baylor Football lost a commit in Chad President. He'd been committed for almost a couple of years now, and we at Our Daily Bears are sad to see him go. We recorded this podcast about 16 hours too early, it would appear, but we were ready to get some audio laid down for you guys about some of the other happenings from recent days, plus get you some audio for your Christmas Eve travels, should you require it.

One note about the audio: For some reason unknown to any of us, Mark's audio track had some clipping in it that makes it sound like I've edited out a word or two in a sloppy manner. We're not really sure what happened, but rest assured that it wasn't that Mark was overly vulgar and I was going crazy with the editing tools.

• Jarrett Stidham committed to Baylor, and we're thrilled about it
• Possible scenarios with the quarterback situation (note: At one point in here Pras talks about being sad that someone in this group may not get to finish their Baylor experience; I was editing that portion of the show as the President news broke, and it struck me as prescient.)
• The aftermath and dark underbelly of recruiting fandom
• The great day the Big 12 had
• What's at stake with recruiting and how to respond to it
• The importance of high-value targets
• There's still more to come before National Signing Day.

• Prashanth's preseason prediction regarding Petty being a better QB overall, though not reflected on the stat sheet
• Did we see peak Goodley this season? Was he injured?
• Coleman's season vs. what we were expecting to see, especially in light of his preseason hamstring injury
• Offensive Line: The big surprise of the season, especially in light of the injuries experienced
• Looking back to look forward, plus some more recruiting talk!
• The "5-star vs. diamond-in-the-rough" debate
• Disappointments of the season (note: we went 11-1 and won our second straight Big 12 Championship. Any actual disappointment is extremely minor)
• Taylor Young is a sneaky blitzer
• The future, friends, is very bright. Whatever Shawn Oakman and Spencer Drango decide.

Since the recording of this podcast, there's been some sad news in that Baylor Football lost a commit in Chad President. He'd been committed for almost a couple of years now, and we at Our Daily Bears are sad to see him go. We recorded this podcast about 16 hours too early, it would appear, but we were ready to get some audio laid down for you guys about some of the other happenings from recent days, plus get you some audio for your Christmas Eve travels, should you require it.

One note about the audio: For some reason unknown to any of us, Mark's audio track had some clipping in it that makes it sound like I've edited out a word or two in a sloppy manner. We're not really sure what happened, but rest assured that it wasn't that Mark was overly vulgar and I was going crazy with the editing tools.