5. Baylor
After finishing as Big 12 champions and winners of the Sugar Bowl in 2021, Baylor stumbled to a lousy sub-.500 finish last season. The biggest issue they needed to address in the offseason was their defense, and the Bears did that in a massive way by hiring Matt Powledge.
Powledge spent two years at BU as a special teams and safeties coach before leaving to take the Oregon defensive coordinator job. A year later, he’s joining back the Bears and will be tasked with taking the defense back to its top-10 state two years ago.
Although Blake Shapen is not the most reliable quarterback option, he is more than capable of being a solid game manager for all of the talent on BU’s offense. I don’t think Baylor is back in the conversation to win a conference title again, but they are only a few pieces away from reaching their full potential. Their defense should vastly improve, as should their record.