The Cougars have reportedly scheduled the biggest non-conference game of the young Kyle Smith tenure.

Smith and the Cougars will face Baylor in Dallas on Dec. 17, according to college hoops insider Rocco Miller. It’ll be the fourth meeting all-time between the two programs and the first since 2010.

The schools played a home-and-home series in 2007 and 2008 where both teams won on the road. Wazzu also beat Baylor in December 2010 when Klay Thompson scored 20 to lead the Cougs over then-15th-ranked Baylor to advance to the championship game at the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu.

Baylor is coming off a 27-7 season and a fourth-place finish in the final AP poll. The Bears claimed the 2020-21 national championship and have won at least 26 games in each of the last three seasons. Between Adam Flagler, LJ Cryer (assuming health), Keyonte George, and Langston Love, Baylor could have the best backcourt in college basketball.

The Cougars will be looking to build off a breakthrough 2021-22 campaign during which Smith’s squad won 22 games and posted the first winning record in Pac-12 play by a WSU squad since the 2007-08 season. A win over what will surely be a ranked Baylor squad would bring some national acclaim to the job Smith has done turning this Cougar program around.