The teams participate in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as one of only three private school members of the Big 12 Conference.

During the 2011–2012 season, Baylor set an NCAA record for most combined wins in the four major collegiate sports: baseball, men's and women's basketball, and American football.

[2] The Baylor American football team opened the new $250 million McLane Stadium, located on the current campus on the banks of the Brazos River, for the 2014 season.

The Bears compete in the Big 12 Conference are currently playing their 116th year of college football competition during the 2014 season.

Over the program's history, the Bears have won or tied for nine conference titles, and have played in 24 bowl games, garnering a record of 13–11.

[3] In 2005 the team opened 3–0 for the first time since 1996 and finished 5–6; Baylor also won its first Big 12 road game at Iowa State.

The Bears went on to beat the Washington Huskies 67–56, finishing the 2011 season with a 10–3 record and ranked #19 by the BCS & Coaches Poll.

The Baylor defense highlighted the game with a stout goal-line stand in the 4th quarter and intercepted Heisman hopeful Collin Klein three times, the last in the endzone to set up an 80-yard touchdown run by Lache Seastrunk.

Baylor easily defeated the #17-ranked UCLA Bruins in the Holiday Bowl on December 27, 2012, by a final margin of 49–26 after jumping out to a 21–0 lead early in the 2nd quarter.

Coach Art Briles has led the Bears to a record of 11–1 in November and December the past 2 seasons which includes 2 bowl wins.

[5] Jim Grobe took over as interim head coach for Baylor and led them to a 6–6 record and a victory in the Cactus Bowl over Boise State.

[6] Rhule subsequently replaced all of the prior football coaches and support staff and completed the hiring process in February 2017.

In 2010, Mulkey returned the Lady Bears to the Final Four, where they lost in the national semifinals to eventual champion UConn.

Then-coach Dave Bliss was forced to resign amidst allegations that he had made financial payments to four players while also making public statements that had characterized Dennehy as a drug dealer.

Additionally, the NCAA further punished the team by initiating a non-conference ban for the 2005–2006 season and extending the probationary period during which the school would have limited recruiting privileges.

The 2006 Bears included Aaron Bruce, the highest scoring freshman in the NCAA in 2005, and Mamadou Diene, rated one of the top 10 centers for the 2007 NBA draft.

The Bears would follow up their elite eight run by winning the 2013 NIT title after beating Iowa in the final game at Madison Square Garden.

A non-exhaustive list of BU players who played in the NBA include Vinnie Johnson, David Wesley, Michael Williams, Terry Teagle, and Brian Skinner.

Baylor's heralded track and field team has produced nine Olympic gold medals, 36 NCAA championships, and 606 All-Americas performances.

Baylor track and field has also produced three Olympic gold medalists: Michael Johnson, Jeremy Wariner and Darold Williamson.

Baylor was not being considered by any major conference as a potential member due to its poor overall football performance as a Big 12 member (the 2010 season was the first year that the program finished at .500 in conference play, and only the second time that it had not finished last or tied for last in its division), along with being a small religious private school.

5 Oklahoma, a program it had never defeated in 20 previous tries – and a win in the 2011 Valero Alamo Bowl led by Griffin, who won the 2011 Heisman Trophy and National Player of the Year honors.

During the 2011–2012 season, Baylor set an NCAA record for most combined wins in the four major collegiate sports: baseball, men's and women's basketball, and American football.

TCU and Baylor had the nation's longest "continuous game" rivalry until the series was temporarily stopped in 1995 upon the SWC's demise, as the schools went to different conferences.

The first homecoming weekend event included a football game, bonfire, concerts, speeches, a reception, a class reunion, and a pep rally.

In January 1927 a bus carrying the Baylor basketball team collided with the Sunshine Special train in Round Rock, Texas.

", was written in 1940 after a group of students wrote to various famous musicians asking for their help in creating a fight song for the university.

The first live bear was a gift from the troops of the 107th Engineers, which was a unit of the 32nd Infantry Division stationed at Camp MacArthur in Waco.

In the fall of 2005, the university finished renovation and construction of the Bill and Eva Williams Bear Habitat, a $1 million facility which includes a thirteen-foot (four-metre) waterfall, three pools, two dens, grass, and eye-level viewing.

President Samuel Palmer Brooks held a vote to choose a mascot from dozens of options including the buffalo, bookworm, antelope, and ferret.