• 20th-ranked men’s hoops topples No. 6 Texas in Austin

    Quincy AcyFormer Baylor star Curtis Jerrells was there. So was Lance Armstrong. And, of course, the Baylor Bear Pit. All were part of a sellout crowd of 16,734 in Austin that saw the Baylor men’s basketball team upset No. 6 Texas 80-77 in overtime Saturday — a win that, even two days later, still has the Baylor campus buzzing. (See photos, video highlights and ESPNews’ Highlight of the Night.)

    How big was this victory for head coach Scott Drew’s Bears? For starters, it snapped an eight-game Big 12 road losing streak and an 11-game losing streak in Austin, and it actually gives Baylor a two-game win streak against the Longhorns. Plus, No. 6 Texas is the highest-ranked road opponent the Bears have ever beaten (previous high: No. 11 Arkansas in 1979).

    So what does this mean going forward? Most immediately, it pushed the Baylor men up to No. 20 in Monday’s AP poll and No. 24 in the coaches’ poll, the team’s highest rankings this season. It’s also the sort of signature win that can really help when it comes time to decide the NCAA Tournament’s field of 65 teams. BaylorBears.com’s Full Court Press blog has a look at the latest bracket projections; ESPN has the Bears as a No. 7 seed, while CBSSports sees Baylor as a No. 5 seed.

    With just 10 regular season games to go, it’s not too late to jump on the Baylor bandwagon. The Bears still have five home games remaining (starting Wednesday vs. Iowa State – 6:30 p.m. CT), and all 10 games will be televised, including the season finale March 6 on ESPN in Waco versus — yep, these same Texas Longhorns. And of course, you can always listen to the games on Waco’s 1660 ESPN Radio, on Sirius Radio Channel 161, or at BaylorBears.com. You can even tune in on the go with BaylorBears.com’s new iPhone app.

    Sic ’em, Baylor basketball!