Through nine games, that school from Fort Worth, Texas – Texas Christian University – is attempting to go undefeated and participate in a Bowl Championship Series bowl.
I cannot believe what I see when looking at the BCS standings. The TCU Horned Frogs (9-0) are No. 6. This is the same team that allowed Houston to rack up 684 yards of total offense and barely escaped in a scary 62-55 win. The same team that beat powerhouses Arizona, Tulane, South Florida, UAB and Cincinnati by three points a piece. In fact, the Horned Frogs went into overtime with Arizona.
They did win lopsided games against top-ranked teams Navy (17-3), Army (27-0) and Vanderbilt (30-14) so I guess they deserve a chance to play either LSU, Miami, Texas or Florida State in the Fiesta or Orange Bowl, right? Winning games against these teams puts them in the same league as Miami and Florida State, right?
TCU holds the No. 6 spot in the BCS rankings this week, which guarantees it a spot in one of the four major bowl games at the end of the season, IF it can find a way to win the remaining three games on its schedule.
First, the Horned Frogs have to go up against Cincinnati. The Bearcats started the season off strong with a 37-point win against East Carolina and a big win against West Virginia. But the Bearcats have struggled as of late and do not seem to pose much of a threat to TCU’s cinderella season.
But then the Horned Frogs have to travel to Hattiesburg, Miss. for a huge game with Southern Miss. I am calling it here now, Southern Miss will beat TCU on the ESPN Thursday night game Nov. 20, GUARANTEED!
At a glance, the Eagles don’t seem to match up well. After all, they have a 6-3 record. But let’s examine that record carefully. The Eagles’ non-conference schedule consists of California, Nebraska, Alabama and Louisiana-Lafayette.
Now the Ragin’ Cajuns are not that great, but that is why the Eagles beat them 48-3. And the Eagles’ three losses came to the other non-conference games they scheduled.
The Eagles hold a 13.2 margin of victory against fellow Conference USA foes while TCU holds a 8.6 margin of victory against C-USA teams. What does that mean? Nothing really, unless you want to ask yourself, “What if TCU and Southern Miss had traded schedules this year?”
If that had happened, I’d be sitting right here, probably writing the same thing about Southern Miss I am about TCU. Which means TCU should not be considered a Top 10 team.
There are probably up to 50 teams in college football that would be undefeated if they had the schedule TCU does. And the fact that TCU is winning most of its games by a field goal displays little justification for its No. 6 ranking.
While the other schools in the BCS Top 10 are constantly playing against Top 25 teams, TCU has a free ride to a possible Fiesta Bowl for beating Army and UAB.
It doesn’t make sense. It’s a travesty. If Division I-A college football had a playoff system, TCU would lose in the first round by about 20. But if it has to go up against another top eight team in a major bowl, it could get embarrassed even worse.
So here’s to hope. Here’s to not having to witness TCU losing by 50 points in January. Here’s to the Southern Miss Golden Eagles, a team with the chance to save this year’s college football season. A team whose destiny is to entangle its wings in the frightful epic TCU is attempting to write in this college football season.