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The Baylor University Bears are celebrating today after winning their first-ever NCAA men's college basketball championship. 
The private Christian university easily beat previously undefeated Gonzaga Monday night 86 to 70. 
The Baylor team thanked God in prayer as they stood in a circle on the court after the game.  
The Bears' Jared Butler was named the Final Four most outstanding player. He gave thanks to the Lord after the game.
"I'm not trying to preach a prosperity gospel, but our Lord and Savior, I say it all the time: He gets us through everything," Butler said. "Jesus Christ, man, He's the truth. He was with us tonight, He was with us all season, He's with us wherever we go. He just sustained us. He brought us together. He brought this team together — transfers, people from overseas. It's just tremendous how it just comes and it comes all full circle."

Louisiana natives and Baylor basketball players Jared Butler and Mark Vital will be on stage for the NCAA National Championship Game against the Gonzaga Bulldogs.

Baylor is a private Baptist university in Waco, TX. In the early 2000s, the basketball program was plagued with scandals including the murder of one of its players. Drew then came in as the coach in 2003 and began to turn the team around using a hierarchal "culture of JOY (Jesus, Others, then Yourself)."
Christian school Oral Roberts University also had a solid run in the tournament making it to the Sweet 16 before being defeated by Arkansas on March 27.
Senior guard MaCio Teague scored 22 points in the Bears' victory on Monday. “It means the world, but all glory goes to God in these situations, win or lose,” Teague says.

Baylor Bears ladies basketball head coach Kim Mulkey is making headlines for her comments about ending COVID-19 testing and allowing infected players to participate, but what did she really say?
The Lady Bears were eliminated from the NCAA's Women's Tournament after getting beat by UConn 69-67 in the Elite Eight. According to a report shared by our partners at News 10, both players and coaches have been tested for coronavirus daily throughout the tourney. As of Saturday, there were only two confirmed positive tests out of the 15,400 tests at the Women's tourney only.
Mulkey said, “I don’t think my words matter, but after the games today, tomorrow, there’s four teams left I think on the men’s side and the women’s side, they need to dump the COVID testing.”

Christian colleges are flourishing during NCAA's March Madness as another university is celebrating a historic achievement. 
Baylor University's men's basketball team is headed to the Final Four for the first time in 71 years after defeating the Arkansas Razorbacks 81-72 Monday. Baylor Bears head coach Scott Drew wasted no time placing the focus on our Lord and Savior.
"First and foremost, we've got to give all the honor and glory to God, for blessing us with this," Drew said.
There's a lot you can say about @BaylorMBB, but perhaps the best thing is that they know it's all for something bigger. #SicEm, indeed. https://t.co/QXqE2VwdzB

 Other good games
Texas Tech was the national runner-up last time we had a tournament. The 6 seed Red Raiders begin their tournament against 11 seed Utah State.
Loyola Chicago will look to recapture the magic of their Final Four Run in 2018. The Ramblers will take on the Rambling Wreck of Georgia Tech in the 8/9 matchup.
https://twitter.com/RamblersMBB/status/1372592688927797252
Liberty is a 13 seed taking on 4 seed Oklahoma State. The Cowboys, led by consensus number 1 overall NBA draft pick Cade Cunningham, will look to avoid the upset.
Two national college basketball powers will square off tonight at 7:10. Number 8 seed North Carolina will take on 9 seed Wisconsin.

The No. 17 Jayhawks handed Baylor its first loss of the 2020-21 season

With a win over Texas, Baylor is the first team to go 10-1 vs. ranked opponents in an 11-game span in 45 years.

Source: Waco, BU in talks about possible downtown site for new arena
A rendering of the Baylor Basketball Pavilion. (Baylor University)(KWTX)
Published: Feb. 19, 2020 at 5:53 PM CST
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Waco and Baylor University officials are at least talking about the possibility of a downtown riverfront site for the school’s new $105-million basketball arena, according to a source with direct knowledge of the talks who commented on the condition of anonymity.
Baylor announced in May 2019 that it planned to use a portion of a record $100 million donation to help fund the Baylor Basketball Pavilion.
“With the lead gift in place, Baylor is in a position to secure additional funding and proceed with a formal plan for design and construction, Athletic Director Mack Rhoades said at the time.

January 20, 2020 11:49 pm
Oklahoma (12-6, 3-3) dropped a heart breaker to No. 1 ranked Baylor (16-1, 6-0) on Monday night, 61-57.
The Sooners did nearly everything they needed to do to win but fell just short as Austin Reaves had a three-pointer clank off the rim with just seconds left that would have given the Sooners a lead with three seconds and change left to play. In fact, Oklahoma was about three objectives away from pulling off one of the biggest upsets in program history.
THE SOONERS ARE CLOSE
I know Oklahoma fans are tired of hearing this following the beatdown that was the Peach Bowl, but the Sooners are close. Losing to No. 6 Kansas at home and No. 1 Baylor on the road by 18 total points is nothing to shake your head at. Oklahoma really only lacks size and strength in the paint which would put them in Sweet 16 talks from the beginning of the season. Lon Kruger has this team on the right trajectory. With Jamal Bieniemy, De’Vion Harmon, Brady Manek, and Kur Kuath all coming back next season, the Sooners will only be THAT much more fun to watch as they develop.

By Matthew Soderberg | Sports Writer
No. 10 Baylor men’s basketball notched a 91-63 neutral court win over Tennessee-Martin Wednesday night in Houston. The Bears dominated in the paint with 54 points whereas the Skyhawks only managed 26.
Still without junior forward Tristan Clarke, the Bears were led by sophomore guards Jared Butler and Davion Mitchell. Mitchell posted a career-high 19 points on 75% shooting with four assists, three rebounds and a career-high four steals. Butler scored 19 points on 50% shooting while adding six assists and three steals.
Three other Bears ended with double figures, as junior wing Mark Vital scored 11, junior guard MaCio Teague scored 12 and sophomore forward Flo Thamba scored 11 and grabbed a game-leading eight boards. Senior guard Devonte Bandoo also shined with a well-rounded performance at eight points, seven rebounds and five assists.

By Matthew Muir | Staff Writer
Baylor’s campus experienced tremendous growth and modernization during the 2010s, with changes ranging from construction of new buildings to renovations of existing spaces.
Over the decade, a handful of new buildings sprung up around campus. Across the Brazos River, McLane Stadium opened for the start of the 2014 football season, replacing the Bears’ prior home at the historic Floyd Casey Stadium. Next to McLane, the Clyde Hart Track and Field Stadium saw its first season of use in 2015. On campus, the East Village Residential Community first housed students in 2013 and the Paul L. Foster Campus for Business and Innovation was completed for the fall 2015 semester.