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No. 5 Baylor tries to avoid looking ahead vs. Ole Miss (Jan 28, 2017)
The scheduled matchups for this weekend's Big 12 vs. SEC Challenge were drawn up months ago, way too far ahead to properly seed the thing.
But if there's a mismatch in the bunch, it appears to be No. 5 Baylor traveling to play an Ole Miss team that's trying to find it's rhythm in SEC play.
The Rebels (12-8, 3-5 SEC) lost four of their first five games in SEC action and most recently dropped a home game versus Texas A&M, 80-76, on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Baylor (19-1, 7-1 Big 12) took a turn as the nation's top-ranked team and is currently tied atop the Big 12 with perennial frontrunner Kansas. The Bears can notch their 20th win by the end of January and have their sights set on lofty goals.
While many teams in the Big 12 and SEC are fighting to make their case for a berth in the NCAA Tournament, Baylor is trying to unseat the Jayhawks as the Big 12 champion and possibly even angle for a No. 1 seed come March.
Still, with a contest at Kansas looming on Wednesday, the Bears are focused on the task immediately in front of them.
"We haven't talked about Kansas," Bears junior point guard Manu Lecomte said. "Coach hasn't talked about Kansas. We don't talk about Kansas right now, just focus on Ole Miss."
Baylor has its own special motivation for performing well in the conference-vs.-conference battle. The Bears are 3-0 in Big 12/SEC Challenge games, having posted victories over Kentucky, Vanderbilt and Georgia.
To add to that, the better the Big 12's conference RPI, the better Baylor's seed will be on Selection Sunday.
"The last three years (the Big 12 has) been the best conference, RPI-wise," Baylor coach Scott Drew said. "Right now, we're not at the top and hopefully this challenge can help with that."
While Baylor is thinking about conference RPI and will eventually turn its focus to battling Kansas next week, Ole Miss is trying to establish its own identity.
"Everybody in the room has got a different view on (the Texas A&M loss) and the Baylor game and the next game," Rebels coach Andy Kennedy said. "Our view has never been anything other than, 'Guys, we've got to get better.' That's what I've said from day one and that's what I'm saying now."
Kennedy compared Baylor to Ole Miss's most recent opponent, Texas A&M, which outrebounded the Rebels 39-23 and scored plenty of points in the paint.
The Bears certainly have a comparable frontcourt, led by forward Johnathan Motley, who is averaging 16.5 points and 10.8 rebounds in Big 12 play. But the difference in Baylor and Texas A&M this season is that the Bears are just as good in the backcourt.
Lecomte, in his first season playing for Baylor after transferring from Miami, averages 12.1 points and better than four assists. He also leads the Bears with 37 3-pointers made this season.
And Lecomte seems to understand the point of getting on a plane and traveling to Mississippi this weekend.
"We want the Big 12 to win the challenge, of course, because the Big 12 is definitely one of the best conferences in the country," Lecomte said. "But we're really focused on Ole Miss."
