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The title game of the very last four-team College Football Playoff is set. Congrats to Michigan and Washington for advancing. I look forward to next Monday’s championship game between two future Big Ten members, wild as that still sounds to hear.
In the meantime, how about some basketball?
It’s been a mostly slow stretch in the sport because of the impact Christmas and New Year’s Day make on every season. But 11 teams in Tuesday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 will return to action Tuesday night, among them Baylor, which is ranked 18th in the Top 25 And 1. The Bears are hosting Cornell inside Foster Pavilion, the new $212.6-millon on-campus basketball arena that was only finished in recent days and will have a ribbon-cutting ceremony about two hours before tipoff.
“It’s amazing how quickly they moved,” said Baylor coach Scott Drew. “[I’m] so thankful and grateful for what [the workers have] done over the holidays because I know they’ve spent a lot of time in there.”
Foster Pavilion is a state-of-the-art and advantageously smaller facility than the Ferrell Center that Baylor previously called home. It’s only 7,000 seats and allows fans to be much closer to the action, which Drew noted was intentional in part because of the impact it can have on winning.
“Sports Illustrated did a study a while ago that [showed] the closer the fans [are to the court], the louder they are, the more impact they have on the game — not only on the home team and the visiting team, but also on the officials, because we’re all human,” Drew said. “The crowd matters more in sports when they’re closer to you. You look at Gonzaga’s The Kennel, [the] Cameron Crazies [at Duke], my brother’s [place at} GCU, Havoc [at VCU]. Even in the state [of Texas], you look at TCU, Houston, SMU, [the buildings are] smaller. It’s made a difference — and [Foster Pavilion] will be a tougher place to play in, for sure.”
Baylor enters this game against Cornell with a 10-2 record featuring wins over Auburn and Florida and losses to Duke and Michigan State. The Bears’ first Big 12 game inside Foster Pavilion is Jan. 9 against BYU. 
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