The Baylor Bears have a potential Dave Aranda problem on their hands during the 2026 College Football season. Entering Aranda's seventh year in Waco, the Bears are still trying to recapture the highs of their 12-2 Sugar Bowl-winning campaign. Baylor has not won a bowl game since and have just one winning season.
That problem can be exacerbated by a slow start in September, which will feature games against the Auburn Tigers in Atlanta during Week 1 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium and the opening of Big 12 play at McLane Stadium against the Colorado Buffaloes, and a Week 5 trip to Tempe to take on the Arizona State Sun Devils.
CBS Sports' Brad Crawford foresees new Baylor University AD Doug McNamee seeing Aranda's perennial underperformance as being a potential area of focus as he continues to leave his mark on the Bears' athletic department.
"There's a new sheriff comning to Waco in the form of athletic director Doug McNamee, who has spent the first couple months on the job assessing what needs to change within the football program. Aranda led the Bears to a Big 12 title in 2021, but three losing recrods in the last four years has him on the league's hottest seat. With important early matchups against Auburn (in Atlanta), Colorado and Arizona State, getting off to a positive start is vital," Crawford wrote.
Auburn is the only excusable loss for Baylor in September
Of course, losing to Auburn is expected for Baylor. Right now, the Tigers are more than a touchdown favorite when the two teams play their second game of a home-and-home that now isn't being played at home for the return matchup.
Losing to Deion Sanders' Buffs would be a different story for the Bears. After losing left tackle Jordan Seaton to the LSU Tigers and WR1 Omarrion Miller to ASU, CU has less talent than perhaps at any point of the "Prime Time" era in Boulder. That'd be a program-destroying loss for Baylor.
If the Bears are 2-2 by the Sun Devils matchup, ASU could close the door on the Aranda era in the Heart of Texas. If they're any worse than 2-2, with matchups with the Prairie View A&M Panthers and Louisiana Tech Bulldogs sandwiched between Auburn and Colorado, Aranda won't make it out to the desert at all.