No. 25 in this week's Associated Press poll, Baylor has a spot in the rankings for the first time since February 1969.

"One thing that brings us a lot of joy is that our fans stuck with us when we weren't as competitive," said Baylor coach Scott Drew, whose team visits No. 18 Texas A&M on Wednesday and hosts Oklahoma on Saturday. "It's great to see them be excited. It's great to see the Ferrell Center rocking. It really does give you a homecourt advantage."

Through Drew's first four seasons at Baylor, the Bears had a Big 12 record of 12-52. This season, the Bears are 15-2 overall and, for the first time since the Big 12 was formed, 3-0 in conference play. The only losses: 85-78 to Arkansas in Dallas (after Baylor led by seven points at halftime), and 67-64 to Washington State in Waco (after Baylor squandered a 14-point, second-half advantage). For the Washington State game, Baylor attracted a crowd of 10,193 -- its largest since 2003.

In November, at the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands, Baylor captured the tournament title by defeating Wichita State, Notre Dame and Winthrop. The Bears followed with a big win, rallying from a 20-point deficit to win 92-84 on South Carolina's homecourt.

In Big 12 play, after recording home victories over Iowa State and Oklahoma State, the Bears ended their 25-game conference road losing streak by winning 72-70 at Nebraska over the weekend. The Bears, who had not savored a Big 12 road win in nearly four years, needed a second-half comeback to vanquish the Huskers.

Said Nebraska coach Doc Sadler: "(The Bears) are playing with confidence. They are taking advantage of opportunities. That's the bottom line."

In August 2003, after leaving the head-coaching position at Valparaiso, he inherited a Baylor program that was a wreck. Baylor player Patrick Dennehy had been murdered by teammate Carlton Dotson. (Dotson ultimately was sentenced to 35 years in prison.) Bears coach Dave Bliss resigned from the scandal-riddled program. The NCAA slapped a five-year probation on Baylor. During the 2005-06 season, the Bears were not allowed to play nonconference games.

Instead of escaping to a less challenging situation, Drew saved the Baylor program with dynamic recruiting.

In 2005, Drew's recruiting class was ranked No. 19 nationally by Scout.com. It included three players -- Curtis Jarrells, Henry Dugat and Kevin Rogers -- who now are starting juniors and collectively average 37 points per game. In 2006, Drew signed guard Demond "Tweety" Carter, a McDonald's All-American from Reserve, La. Last year, Baylor signed another big-time Louisiana prospect -- 6-foot-4 LaceDarius Dunn, rated by Scout.com as a five-star recruit and the No. 6 shooting guard prospect in the nation. A first-year freshman, Dunn averages 12.3 points in only 20 minutes of playing time per game.

Though still on probation, Baylor is eligible for postseason play. The Bears seem destined for their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1988 and only the fifth in school history.

Kansas rolls on: During the final seven-plus minutes of their 76-70 victory at Missouri last Saturday, unbeaten No. 2 Kansas missed on all five of its field-goal attempts. But during that span, the Jayhawks were 13-of-18 on free throws.

The Jayhawk guards did not execute well against Missouri's pressure defense, Kansas coach Bill Self told the Kansas City Star.

"That was credit to Missouri getting after us," Self said.

Ultimately, the difference was Kansas' defense. During the second half, the Tigers shot just 14-of-41 overall from the field and 2-of-16 on 3-point tries.

Problems in Aggieland: One week ago, Texas A&M was 15-1 overall and ranked No. 10 nationally. After losses at Texas Tech (68-53) and Kansas State (75-54), the Aggies dropped to No. 18 in this week's AP poll.

Even in an 86-69 win over Colorado on Jan. 12, the Aggies allowed the Buffs to shoot 77 percent from the field (17-of-22) during the second half. A&M now enters a difficult four-game stretch that includes Wednesday's home meeting with No. 25 Baylor, Saturday's game at Oklahoma State and a Jan. 30 clash with visiting Texas.

MONDAY

Texas 63, Oklahoma State 61

WEDNESDAY

Iowa State at Kansas (ESPN-25), 6 p.m.

Baylor at Texas A&M, 7 p.m.

Missouri at Texas Tech, 7 p.m.

K-State at Colorado (ESPNU-253), 7 p.m.

SATURDAY

Nebraska at KU (KJRH 9/2), 12:30 p.m.

Texas A&M at OSU (ESPN-25), 1 p.m.

Missouri at Colorado, 2 p.m.

Oklahoma at Baylor (KJRH 9/2), 3 p.m.

Iowa State at Kansas State, 5 p.m.

Texas Tech at Texas, 7 p.m.