Time to finish up our series on the best and worst moments of 2012 for each team in the Big 12. Our last team: Baylor.
Worst moment: Will the Bears ever win a game?
Baylor had high hopes for 2011, but losing to an average Iowa State team by two touchdowns (and scoring 21 points in that loss) was rock bottom for the Bears, who fell to 0-4 in Big 12 play with lopsided losses to TCU and the Cyclones and close losses to West Virginia and Texas. The four-game losing streak assured that any hope of duplicating last year's 10-3 campaign after reaching the Top 25 early in the season was over, but at 3-4 with three more games against ranked teams on the schedule, Baylor had legitimate reason to worry if they'd even make a bowl game. Going a month without winning a game is a tough experience, but the Bears had to stomach it, and the worst loss of the bunch was the 14-pointer to a team that ended the season below .500.
Best moment: Baylor makes history, shakes up the BCS
Nov. 17 has a whole different meaning for the guys in green and gold than it does for K-State, which came to Waco with a 10-0 record and had blown out its fair share of Big 12 teams with a stronger résumé than the 4-5 Bears. That earned the Wildcats the nod as the BCS' No. 1 team for the first time in school history, two games away from a berth in the national title game. Baylor didn't seem to care, dominating the game from start to finish and beating the nation's No. 1 team for the first time in school history, doing so emphatically, 52-24. Fans stormed the field after the game and the win looked even better in hindsight. It set in motion a four-game winning streak to close the season, giving them an 8-5 record. Lache Seastrunk had his first breakout game of the season with 185 yards, highlighted by a game-clinching 80-yard run in the final minute of the third quarter. It was a night Baylor will never forget, and launched the Bears into what could be a very promising 2013 campaign.
More best and worst of 2012: