Why Baylor is poised to continue its elite recruiting

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Baylor is now most certainly among the game’s elites. A big key in Baylor’s ascent is success on the recruiting trail. The Bears have signed top-30 classes three out of the past four years and have an average finish of 24 during that same time frame. This past February, the Bears finished with the second-best class in the Big 12 and 17th overall.

Here are five reasons why you can expect even more success from Baylor with its 2017 class.

Winning big has put Art Briles front and center with many recruits. Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images

Uncertainty at Texas and Texas A&M

With Charlie Strong and Kevin Sumlin on the hot seat at Texas and Texas A&M, Baylor should be able to use that to its advantage in recruiting. Even though Texas was able to overcome some of the question marks about Strong’s future with a top-10 2016 class, the criticism will be back quickly if the Horns don’t win big this season. The same is true in College Station, where Aggie fans are demanding success this season. Those question marks about the flagship programs in Texas gives Baylor a unique opportunity to sell stability to local prospects, and it’s a pitch that should work quite well with 2017 recruits.

The swag factor

Baylor has about …

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