Clemson Football: Sleeper teams in the 2023 season

Sleeper in the Big 12: Baylor

The Bears are only two seasons removed from a Big 12 championship in Dave Aranda’s second season. His quarterback, Charlie Brewer, elected to leave the program instead of taking advantage of his extra year in Waco.

As a result, Baylor regressed in Aranda’s third season to a 6-7 overall record. They were competitive in most games but finished with three straight losses.

The Bears have done what you expect most teams in their position to do in 2023 – they hit the portal. They have brought in several players to upgrade the offensive backfield, offensive line, and defensive backfield.

Because of all the new faces, there is hesitance from most observers to buy into the 2023 Bears squad without seeing it in action first, but Aranda has one more new ‘old’ face that can make a big difference.

Matt Powledge returns to take over the defense after a season at Oregon. Powledge previously coached safeties and special teams for the Bears in 2021 during their conference championship season.

Baylor also has one other factor breaking in their favor: they only play four away games all season. All four of their non-conference opponents will come to Waco. They do face a big challenge in Week 2 against Utah, but they might catch them at a good time coming off an emotional win against Florida, and probably without quarterback Cam Rising.