After three years of teetering on the NCAA Tournament bubble, Syracuse safely qualified for the field of 68 in Sunday night’s selection show. The Orange (20-13, 10-8 Atlantic Coast) are a No. 8 seed, squarely in the middle of the field, and will take on No. 9 seed Baylor (19-13, 10-8 Big 12) in the opening round Thursday night in Salt Lake City.

With the NCAA Tournament back, it’s time for more fun facts.

Here are 10 fun facts you need to know about Baylor before the Bears battle SU.

1. Baylor has been around for a while

Baylor was established by the Republic of Texas in 1845, in Independence, Texas. Texas was not officially established as a U.S. state until later that year in December. The school, now in Waco, is the oldest running school in the Lone Star State.

2. Baylor’s own “Fixer Upper”

Chip and Joanna Gaines, co-stars of HGTV’s “Fixer Upper,” are Baylor alumni. While in college, Chip teamed up with his friends to open a laundry service called “Baylor Wash N’ Fold,” that did students’ laundry for them while in school. He built up the business after writing down the original plan on a napkin. He and Joanna flipped homes on television until 2018.

3. Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

Baylor has a small zoo on its campus that houses both of its mascots, Lady and Joy. The Bear became the mascot in 1914, and bears have been housed on campus since. Joy and Lady are biological sisters and arrived on campus in 2001 and 2002, respectively.

4. The Baylor Line

Hundreds of students wearing gold race across the field at Baylor before every home football game. “The Baylor Line” tradition began in 1970 and has carried on since. Almost every freshman and transfer student leads the charge onto the field, eventually settling into their reserved seats directly behind the visitors’ bench.

5. If you can’t beat them, make sure they join you

Baylor’s leading scorer, Makai Mason, hasn’t been at Baylor for long. He’s a graduate transfer this season from Yale after having played three seasons for the Bulldogs. During Mason’s sophomore season in 2016, Yale met Baylor in the opening round. Mason led all scorers with 31 points in the upset win over the Bears. Now, he’ll suit up for Baylor in the NCAA Tournament.

6. More than men’s basketball

The Baylor women’s basketball team finished the regular season No. 1 in the AP Top 25. They are 31-1 and the No. 1 overall seed in the women’s NCAA Tournament. The Lady Bears won the National Championship in 2011-12, and they have qualified for the Elite Eight in six of the past eight seasons.

7. Dr. Pepper Hour

Baylor students celebrate “Dr. Pepper Hour” each Tuesday with free Dr. Pepper floats. It began as Coffee Hour in 1953, then switched to Coke Hour when the official soft drink of the school used to be Coke. As they switched to Dr. Pepper in 1997, so did the celebration.

8. Christian roots

Baylor is the largest, private Baptist university in the world. At 1,000 acres and 17,217 students, the school has a Department of Religion, and Baylor’s website says, “The oldest tradition in American higher education and at Baylor University is Chapel.”

9. Gold and Green

In 1887, Baylor needed colors. One of the members of the student committee in charge of choosing the colors looked out the window at the spring dandelions and said that the green and gold would make good colors. The other members of the committee agreed, and those colors have remained at Baylor since.

10. Scott Drew’s not-so-lengthy basketball career

Baylor head coach Scott Drew quit his high school JV team to focus on tennis. Basketball may not have been for him on the court, but his brother Bryce starred at Valparaiso, and later went on to coach at Valpo and now at Vanderbilt. Scott has been the coach at Baylor since 2003, leading the Bears to eight NCAA Tournament appearances.

Published on March 20, 2019 at 11:14 pm

Contact Anthony: amdabbun@syr.edu | @AnthonyDabbundo