For the first time since March 2013, the Baylor Lady Bears are back at No. 1 in the nation!
That’s according to the most recent AP poll, in which head coach Kim Mulkey’s squad received 24 of 28 first-place votes to claim the nation’s top spot. At 17-1 on the season and with wins over No. 2 UConn, No. 16 South Carolina, No. 21 Arizona State, and No. 23 Iowa State, the Lady Bears have built a strong case for that No. 1 spot.
Of course, this isn’t new territory for Baylor’s women’s basketball program — or for Baylor as a whole. The Lady Bears own two national titles, of course, and Baylor acrobatics & tumbling is aiming for its fifth straight national championship this spring. Baylor men’s tennis (2004) and equestrian (2012) have also brought home national titles, not to mention the countless times Baylor student-athletes have won national individual titles in track, tennis, etc.
And there are plenty of top-ranked programs at Baylor outside of athletics, as well:
- Baylor has won the American Prize as the nation’s top collegiate orchestra each of the last four years.
- Baylor’s Focus Magazine was named the best student-produced magazine in the country last summer by the Society of Professional Journalists.
- Baylor trumpeters have claimed first place at the National Trumpet Competition five of the last eight years.
- Baylor’s Model UN program was named Overall Outstanding Delegation at the American Model UN Conference in Chicago last November.
- A Baylor School of Education partnership with a local ISD won top national honors for the second year in a row from the National Association for Professional Development Schools.
- A Baylor cybersecurity team placed among the nation’s top 10 at the 2018 Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition.
Other top-10 Baylor programs include the trial advocacy program at Baylor Law School (ranked No. 5 by U.S.News), Baylor entrepreneurship (No. 6, Entrepreneur magazine), the Army-Baylor master’s in health care management (No. 7, U.S.News), the Army-Baylor doctoral program in physical therapy (No. 8, U.S.News), and Baylor’s nurse-midwifery doctoral program (No. 10, U.S.News).
And of course, Baylor is regularly named both one of the best values in higher education by both U.S. News and Kiplinger’s, and one of the nation’s great colleges to work for by the Chronicle of Higher Education.
As for the basketball ranking… While there’s still plenty of season left to play (and the ranking that matters most comes at the end of the season, as we all know), it’s certainly fun to add this No. 1 ranking to all our other top honors!
Sic ’em, Bears and Lady Bears!