With apologies to Yogi Berra, my trip to Oklahoma City has been "deja vu all over again."  This week feels eerily similar to the week I spent with the Baylor men's basketball team up here in OKC a little over two months ago.

 

Coach Scott Drew's Bears returned their entire starting five, began the season ranked in the Top 25, racked up the wins in non-conference, only to mysteriously stumble through the Big 12 schedule and play its way out of the postseason picture.  Then, here in Oklahoma City as the 9th seed, Baylor won its first tournament game (on a Wednesday), knocked off the tournament's number one seed (Kansas), beat the Texas Longhorns for the first time in AGES, and made it to the Big 12 championship game.

 

Sound familiar?

 

Coach Steve Smith's Bears were a Top 10 team to start the year, climbed as high as 5th in the nation early in the season, only to limp across the Big 12 finish line by losing their final 10 games and three series of the conference schedule, and all of a sudden Baylor's NCAA tournament hopes were on life support.  However, here in Oklahoma City, just three or four blocks down from the Ford Center (site of the Big 12 men's basketball tournament) as the 8th seed, the Bears opened up the tournament (on a Wednesday) by beating top-seeded Texas, a school they had lost to four straight and six of the last seven times.  Now, if Texas beats Kansas (UT leads 8-to-1 in the 5th inning) and Baylor beats Kansas State tonight, the Bears will punch a ticket to the Big 12 championship game on Sunday.

 

***

 

-- Five of the last eight years at the Big 12 baseball tournament, a team seeded 6th or lower has played in the title game.

 

-- Dustin Dickerson's go-ahead, 2-run double in Baylor's 8-run 6th inning against Texas was the 200th hit of his career.

 

-- Kendal Volz's save against UT on Wednesday was the first of his collegiate career.