Source: dallasnews.com / The Bears are 10-1, have a pair of 'quality' road victories, and have a chance to avenge to their lone loss in two weeks against Oklahoma in the Big XII Title game.

Welcome back all! Earlier tonight the CFP committee released their next set of rankings. The two biggest takeaways from the latest edition are the flip-flop at the top with Ohio State taking the #1 spot and LSU dropping to 2, and Baylor jumping five spots and into the top 10. With the Bears' sudden jump to #9, they are the perfect team to profile next.

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Last week I started profiling teams that still had a chance to reach the College Football Playoff. So far, we've covered Utah, Oklahoma, and Minnesota - all fellow 10-1 teams - and as it just so happens, the teams ranked 6, 7, & 8, respectively, in tonight's latest CFP rankings. Baylor seemed to be an afterthought after blowing a large lead to Oklahoma two weeks ago, but after bouncing-back with a win over Texas, coupled with Oregon's surprising loss at Arizona State, the Bears once again have life - and a path to the CFP. Let's take a look at what Baylor has been able to accomplish to this point:

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Source: www2.baylor.edu / The Bears have won a pair of OT - thrillers, and have seemingly come out of no where to not only contend for the Big XII Title, but have thrown their hat into the CFP mix as well.

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BAYLOR (10-1 Overall, 7-1 Big XII)

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Rankings:

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CFP (#9)

AP (#11)

Coaches (#10)

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Schedule

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vs Stephen F. Austin (3-9) (FCS) W 56-17

vs UT-San Antonio (4-7) W 63-14

@ Rice (2-9) W 21-13

vs Iowa State (7-4) W 23-21

@ Kansas State (7-4) W 31-12

vs Texas Tech (4-7) W 33-30 2OT

@ Oklahoma State (8-3) W 45-27

vs West Virginia (4-7) W 17-14

@ TCU (5-6) W 29-23 3OT

vs Oklahoma (10-1) L 31-34

vs Texas (6-5) W 24-10

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Points Scored Per Game: (33.9)

Points Allowed Per Game: (19.5)

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Team Statistics (Current National Rank):

Total Offense: (40th)

Total Defense: (41st)

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Efficiency Ratings:

FEI (Fremeau Efficiency Index): (17th)

TE (ESPN.com Team Efficiency): (17th)

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A look at the Bears' resume shows a team that played a weak non-conference schedule (a la Minnesota except even worse), but on the other hand, has four victories to date over teams with a winning record. With two of those coming on the road & holding up well - a 31-12 victory at 7-4 Kansas State & probably their most impressive win - 45-27 @ 8-3 Oklahoma State, Baylor's resume has actually improved a bit in the past couple of weeks. Their one loss is not a bad one, albeit a painful one to blow leads of 25 & 21 at home to Oklahoma.

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Source: burntorangenation.com / Baylor was largely dismissed & written-off after they blew a huge first-half lead in a painful loss to Oklahoma, but they followed that up by shutting down Texas in a 24-10 victory this past Saturday.

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The Bears' extremely weak non-conference schedule certainly merits scrutiny, and their total team stats & efficiency ratings don't quite stack up to the other contenders either, but they still have a path to the playoff. There are no guarantees, but assuming they get past Kansas in Lawrence this Saturday, they will have an opportunity to avenge that Oklahoma loss in a rematch with the Sooners in the Big XII Title game. Win that one against a top-10 ranked, 1-loss Oklahoma team, and then get a little help in the form of Utah losing either to Colorado or Oregon in the Pac-12 Title game, and Baylor very well could find themselves in the final four.

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Of course they would need LSU & Ohio State to take care of business as well, but it's not that tough to envision a very realistic scenario where the final spot comes down to Baylor & possibly Alabama or Utah. That would be a very interesting conversation. At any rate, the Bears could do themselves a favor and look as good as possible against lowly 3-8 Kansas this weekend- who have had a few, but not many sparks under first year Head Coach Les Miles. The pathway is there, and it might not be as unrealistic as many believe it to be.