Two of the Big 12’s top programs will meet this Monday, Jan. 22 when the No. 4 Kansas State Wildcats (18-1; 7-0 Big 12) take on the No. 13 Baylor Bears (15-2; 4-2 Big 12). The game will be broadcast nationally on FS1, with tip-off scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET.
It’s been a banner season thus far for Kansas State, and the Wildcats’ hot start makes Monday’s game a marquee matchup. At No. 4, Kansas State has reached it’s highest ranking in the Associated Press top 25 poll since 2003 (Across the Timeline), and the Wildcats have earned ever bit of that ranking. Kansas State has beaten three ranked teams (Iowa, North Carolina and Texas) and has won its first seven games in Big 12 play for the first time since head coach Jeff Mittie was hired in 2014.
Most recently, Kansas State defeated intra-state rival Kansas with a trademark defensive effort, allowing fewer than 60 points for the 12th consecutive game. This came without 6-foot-6 center Ayoka Lee, who the Wildcats recently announced would miss the next four weeks after a surgical procedure on her ankle.
Baylor, however, presents a significantly tougher challenge to Kansas State, especially with Lee on the mend. Though the Bears have already lost two Big 12 games (one to Kansas and one to Iowa State), their statistical…
