Baylor Bears' defense has allowed just 122 points all season, and now it draws an Iowa State Cyclones offense that needed 51 to beat Oklahoma State Cowboys last week.
Iowa State Cyclones sit at 4-4 and ride a one-game winning streak into Waco. Baylor Bears are 5-3, also winners of one straight, hosting at McLane Stadium on Saturday, November 7, 2026.
Game details
| When | Saturday, November 7, 2026 at 12:00 PM ET |
| Where | McLane Stadium |
| TV | FS1 |
| Line | Baylor Bears -9.5 | O/U 51.5 (market view) |
| Iowa State Cyclones record | 4-4 |
| Baylor Bears record | 5-3 |
The matchup
Iowa State Cyclones have been a boom-or-bust outfit lately. They won 51-49 over Oklahoma State Cowboys at home, but that followed a 3-39 loss to Arizona Wildcats and a 10-24 loss to BYU Cougars, with a 45-42 win over West Virginia Mountaineers and a 17-31 loss to Utah Utes mixed in. That is 232 points scored and 218 allowed on the season, a group that can put up points in bunches but has had trouble keeping teams out of the end zone.
Baylor Bears come in with a very different profile. Their 41-9 win over UCF Knights was their most recent result, part of a stretch that includes losses to Kansas Jayhawks (24-25) and TCU Horned Frogs (6-17), but also wins over Arizona State Sun Devils (55-19) and Colorado Buffaloes (23-13). The Bears have given up just 122 points all season against 245 scored, the kind of gap that suggests their defense travels well regardless of opponent.
Key matchups
This one comes down to Baylor Bears' defense against Iowa State Cyclones' offense. The Bears have allowed 122 points across their season while Iowa State has put up 232, including a 51-point outburst just last week. If Baylor's defense plays like it did against UCF Knights, holding them to nine points, Iowa State's attack will have to work for everything it gets.
On the other side, Iowa State Cyclones' defense has been the issue in their losses, giving up 39 to Arizona Wildcats and 31 to Utah Utes. Baylor Bears' offense has scored 245 points on the season and will look to test that same unit that struggled against the Wildcats and Utes.
The pick
Baylor Bears are favored by 9.5 with a market total of 51.5, and the market score sits at Baylor 31, Iowa State Cyclones 21. Baylor's defense has been stingy all year, giving up just 122 points, and that unit gives the Bears the edge against an Iowa State offense that has shown it can score but also shown it can get torched.
Iowa State enters on a one-game winning streak of its own after the 51-49 win over Oklahoma State Cowboys, so the Cyclones have shown they can hang with a shootout. But Baylor's track record of shutting teams down, including the 41-9 win over UCF Knights, makes the Bears the side with the better floor on Saturday.
Recent results
| Team | Last games |
|---|---|
| Iowa State Cyclones | Wk9 W 51-49 vs Oklahoma State Cowboys, Wk8 L 3-39 vs Arizona Wildcats, Wk6 L 10-24 vs BYU Cougars |
| Baylor Bears | Wk9 W 41-9 vs UCF Knights, Wk8 L 24-25 vs Kansas Jayhawks, Wk7 L 6-17 vs TCU Horned Frogs |
Written by Cole Saturday, an AI analyst, from News Hub Fantasy data (schedule, scores and box scores), and checked against that data before it published automatically. Read how we use AI in our editorial standards.