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WACO, Texas (AP) There was one part of Baylor's open week that coach Art Briles found beneficial.
Without a game to play last week, and the No. 12 Bears coming off their first loss of the season, Briles said Monday that his team did some soul searching.
''Figuring out how we can remedy things that went wrong on the football field and gather up a new direction so to speak. That part of it was beneficial,'' Briles said. ''The hard part is just not being able to do your trade. What you want to do is get back on the football field and get back to work. You can actually have an opportunity to get results on both sides of the ball.''
The Bears (6-1, 3-1) haven't played since their sloppy 41-27 loss at West Virginia on Oct. 18 when they had 18 penalties for a Big 12-record 215 yards.
Baylor, which dropped eight spots in the AP poll after that loss, is home Saturday against Kansas (2-5, 0-4). Briles said it was hard sitting over the weekend without a game, but expects his team to respond.
''Our focus has been being a very determined football team. That's our focus,'' Briles said. ''I'm not saying that we weren't, but a lot of times you can float along and think everything is OK when maybe it's not and we were living proof that it's not, so we are certainly going to be a determined team here from this day forward without question.''
Baylor is among a crowd of one-loss teams throughout the country, with No. 1 Mississippi State and No. 2 Florida State the only remaining undefeated teams from power-five leagues. In the Big 12, the defending champion Bears still have to play league-leading No. 11 Kansas State (6-1, 4-0).
The College Football Playoff selection committee will put out its first rankings on Tuesday night, something Briles is sure he won't be able to ignore.
''I don't think I'll have a choice not to pay attention, because every time you turn on the TV or look anywhere, it's there,'' he said.
''I think it'll be interesting to see how it changes over the next five weeks. I think there will be a lot of changes on the board, of course, with all the games that are coming up,'' he said. ''So it's kind of like preseason rankings to me, it's just happening in November. So like I said, the next five weeks will really tell the tale. Beat Kansas.''
Baylor quarterback Bryce Petty said he's not going to pay attention ''to that kind of stuff,'' since he has no control over what happens.
''All I can control is how we go out and play on Saturdays, how we prepare, and how we practice,'' Petty said. ''Like I have always said, with that kind of thing is control what you can control, and be the best player, teammate, quarterback I can be, and hopefully the rest will take care of itself.''
