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NCAA Basketball Rankings: Undefeated Baylor Climbs Up To No. 3

The Bears reach their highest ranking in program history before two consecutive games with Big 12 opponents ranked in the Top 10.

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After a 17-0 start to the season, Baylor has skyrocketed to the No. 3 spot in the latest coaches poll.

One of the only three undefeated teams left in the NCAA, the Bears trail fellow unbeaten Syracuse as well as 17-1 Kentucky, whose only lose came on a buzzer beater on the road against a top 10 opponent in Indiana.

But as tough as the road has been so far, it only gets more steep in the next week, as Baylor plays two fellow Top 10 Big 12 teams in No. 7 Missouri and No. 10 Kansas.

If the Bears can pull out a victory in the Allen Fieldhouse, one of the toughest venues in college basketball, against a Jayhawks team that has won seven straight Big 12 championships, they'll raise their national profile tremendously while removing one of the biggest hurdles left to a possible undefeated season.

The only other Big 12 team in the top 25, Kansas State, dropped out after losing a close home game to Baylor as well as a shocking road upset to Oklahoma.

Our Daily Bears has you covered for every bit of news and analysis from what's fast becoming the center of the men's and women's college basketball universe.

Photographs by jamesbrandon, jdtornow, phlezk, flygraphix, mcdlttx, tomasland, and literalbarrage used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.