Dave Aranda’s tenure at Baylor was a picture of mediocrity.
The Bears went 40-40 in Aranda’s seven seasons in Waco, with the highlight coming back in 2021 when Baylor went 12-2 and beat Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Championship.
Since then, Baylor has gone 6-7, 3-9, 8-5, 5-7, respectively, and is now 4-3 through seven games in 2026. It was time.
Joe Klanderman, who was Aranda’s defensive coordinator, will serve as interim coach for the Bears against UCF on Friday night.
The Knights, who defeated BYU last week, are 1.5-point favorites at the Bounce House.
Baylor vs. UCF odds, prediction
Aranda threw one last dice roll in the offseason by signing former Florida quarterback DJ Lagway from the transfer portal, but the decision backfired.
Despite a pass-heavy approach, the Bears rank 101st in yards per pass and 125th in completion percentage.
Klanderman has said all the right things about Lagway, but it’s hard to imagine that this coaching change is just going to snap the polarizing quarterback into form.
The good news for Klanderman is that his defense is good enough that the bar for Lagway and Baylor’s moribund offense isn’t that high.
Baylor ranks 21st overall in yards per play allowed, 11th in yards allowed per rush and 11th in sack percentage. The Bears are a balanced unit without the ball, and if the offense was just decent, we’re probably talking about a Big 12 contender.
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UCF is coming off a season-defining win against BYU, but the overall picture has been mediocre for Scott Frost’s program.
The Knights are 4-3 with one massive win, but a handful of uninspiring losses. The offense is the culprit of this mediocrity, ranking 98th in yards per play (5.1) and 96th in yards per game (338.7).
Perhaps the win over BYU will provide some momentum for UCF to carry into the rest of the season, but that doesn’t change the fact that this mediocre offense will need to try to solve a darn good defense Friday night.
I don’t see either offense lighting up the Bounce House on Friday.
The Play: Under 47.5 points (-110, DraftKings)
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Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.
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