Getting to Know U(niversities)- Current Big 12 Members: Baylor Bears

A new conference home for TCU means that there are a whole host of new teams to be aware of. Gone are the BYUs and New Mexicos of the world, and back are the teams that the last few generations of TCU graduates wouldn't be familiar with, but the generations before knew all too well. This week we're getting back in touch with our ancestral enemies the Baylor Bears, so make the jump if you will and find out what there is to know about those wacky Waco-neers.

Tale of the Tape: Baylor University

Location: Waco, Texas

Stadium: Floyd Casey Stadium

Overall Record: 541-539-44. That's right, Baylor's miracle 2011 season brought the bears over .500 all time.

Championships: Zero National Championships (just have to throw that in there), Six conference championships (all SWC)

Conference History: Independent from 1896-1914, Co-founder of the Southwest Conference in 1915-1995, joined the Big 12 in 1996.

Traditions: The Baylor Line, where all Baylor Freshman run onto the field before a game and form a line for the football team to run through before the game. The cynical observer would make some comment about this being the only way to ensure Baylor freshman attend the games, but in actuality it's kind of neat. They also have real bears as mascots, which I'm also a fan of.

Rivals: TCU in the Revivalry, Texas A&M in the Battle of the Brazos, Rice Owls, SMU Mustangs, University of Texas and Texas Tech University. Due to our decade apart the TCU/Baylor series was actually passed in games played by the Baylor/Texas A&M series- by one game. Despite that decade apart TCU/Baylor is one of the most played rivalries in college football with 107 contests. Baylor also had less intense rivalries with the other two Texas private schools of the SWC, patching together a winning record against Rice and just under .500 against SMU. Baylor also has often played Texas Tech on Thanksgiving weekend, with the lifetime series 33-36-1 in favor of the Red Raiders. And finally, Baylor, like all schools in Texas that aren't Texas or A&M, has a fairly one sided-rivalry with the Texas Longhorns.

You may remember them from such TCU games as: It's one of the most played games in college football and the all-time series is deadlocked at 50-50-7. TCU fans of any generation will happily recall the recent beatdowns of the bears in 2006, 2007 and 2010, while Baylor fans are still basking in the glow of the 2011 upset of the Frogs. The series has been incredibly streaky, with Baylor going 7-0-2 in the first nine meetings, only for TCU to take the lead in the lifetime series in 1947, promptly losing it, then taking it and building on it winning 15 our of 17 from 1955-1971. The bears cut deep into the lead in the seventies, and it's been close ever since.

Have they been looking at other conferences?: They have indeed, but other conferences have not necessarily been looking back. During the original Pac 10 expansion plan Baylor attempted to worm its way in to one of the spots by blocking Colorado entry. Colorado circumvented that plan by joining the Pac 10 first and setting the expansion dominoes in motion, which almost left Baylor out in the conference cold twice. The Bears are Big 12 to the core, and as long as everyone else agrees to stay, Baylor won't have to sue anybody.

What else is "need to know" about Baylor University and the Rivalry?: Since 1910 they've been the best university in Waco! I kid. One thing that fans of other teams tend to comment on when they look at the TCU/Baylor rivalry is that we're just jealous that they got into the Big 12 and we didn't. They often go on to say that they wish that we had gotten in instead of Baylor, but that's the vibe that's out there. They're not wrong that there is a deep resentment about the demise of the SWC from all members who didn't get into the Big 12, but this overlooks one simple fact: We have always been at war with Baylor. The hate is deep, abiding and above all- multifaceted. We don't hate them because they got into the Big 12 and we didn't. We hate them because we're TCU and they're Baylor. What more could anyone need?