Football players up for national awards

Six Baylor football players were named to preseason watch lists for national honors before the Bears even played a game in 2012.

Baylor quarterback Nick Florence (Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award), running back Jarred Salubi (Doak Walker Award), wide receivers Tevin Reese and Terrance Williams (Biletnikoff Award), tight end Jordan Najvar (John Mackey Award) and offensive lineman Cyril Richardson (Outland Trophy and Rotary Lombardi Award) are each being considered for honors as the top player at their position.

Williams was also named to the watch list for the Maxwell Award, which annually honors the nation's top collegiate football player.

Soccer cracks top 25 for first time since 1999

In the season's second week, Baylor soccer broke into the top 25 for the first time since 1999, coming in at No. 24 in the NSCAA/Continental Tire College Rankings.

League coaches picked Baylor to place third in the Big 12 this season, the program's highest placing since the preseason poll began in 2000, after the Bears reached the second round of the 2011 NCAA tournament.

This fall, the Bears were off to a 8-1-1 start and ranked 25th at press time.

Bears match best-ever finish in all-sport Directors' Cup standings

With all 19 sports reaching the postseason during the Year of the Bear and topped by the Lady Bears' national championship, Baylor came in at No. 25 in the 2011-12 Learfield Sports Directors' Cup standings released in June by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics.

The finish matched the Bears' best-ever placement in the standings, which use a mathematical formula to sum up how each university did across its entire range of varsity athletic programs. The Bears' 19 varsity sports were the fewest of any school in this year's top 25.

This marks the sixth time Baylor has finished in the top 35 during Ian McCaw's eight full seasons as director of athletics.