Jan 1 and 2 turn out great for the Horned Frogs
January 2, 2009 by Travis L. Brown ·
Some key losses in the first two days of 2009 have the potential to launch TCU deeper into the top ten.
Friday, Jan 2, number 7 Texas Tech was beat convincingly by number 25 Ole Miss in the 73rd Cotton Bowl Classic in Dallas. Also, more importantly, Mountain West Conference rival Utah beat number 4 Alabama in the Sugar bowl, completing their 13-0 season. On the first day of 2009, number 8 Penn State lost to USC in the Rose Bowl.
TCU beat number 9 Boise State in the 2008 San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl, ending the Bronco’s undefeated season. TCU went into the game ranked number 11 in the BCS.
What is to follow is a long shot, but it’s the Horned Frog’s best possible scenario. Solely based on their Bowl win, TCU should move to number nine, because of the head to head win against Boise State and the Horned Frogs strength of schedule. Then came the Horned Frog’s late Christmas presents.
With Tech’s loss to number 25 Ole Miss they should fall out of the top ten from number 7. Also, nub er 8 Penn State should at best stay at 8 with their loss to USC. This opens two spots for the Horned Frogs to slide comfortably into 7. Now TCU could move a few more if their cards can fall just right.
To guarantee their claim to the number 7 position, Texas would need to beat Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl Monday night. This will knock Ohio State out of the top ten as well giving them their third loss.
Next, number 1 Oklahoma needs to beat number 2 Florida, by a large difference preferably. This win will make things interesting.
Utah will take number 4 by beating Alabama and giving them their second loss of the season. With OU and UT wins, Texas will move into second. Depending on the score of the BCS Championship, Florida will finish third that is unless the Utes have taken the hearts of the pollsters and take third bumping the Gators to fourth. USC will stay at five, despite their great finish against Penn, because of a terrible PAC-10 in 2008.
Now what to do with Alabama? TCU has a case to take the six spot from the Crimson Tide.
Both the Horned Frogs and the Tide will finish with 11-2 records. ‘Bama’s losses came from now number two Florida and the Utes. TCU’s losses came from now number one OU and a last minute heart breaker against the Utes, that should have been won, if it weren’t for two missed field goal attempts. Bama’s was never really in it’s loss to Utah, and lost by 14.
If OU beats Florida, especially if it’s convincingly, TCU should take the 6 spot over the Crimson Tide because of the way each teams losses match up. TCU should have finished on top of Utah and held OU to it’s lowest score of the season. ‘Bama should finish at a respectable 7. In case this is hard to follow i will list my top ten at the bottom.
One interesting note, on the FOX Sugar Bowl post game show, Barry Switzer said Utah should finish second behind OU for going 13-0 with a good strength of schedule.
My Final Top Ten ( with projected OU and UT wins):
1. Oklahoma
2. Texas
3. Florida ( or Utah)
4. Utah ( or Florida)
5. USC
6. TCU
7. Alabama
8. Penn State
9. Boise State
10. Georgia
No way TCU finishes above Alabama. Alabama had far more quality wins from playing in the SEC.
@Bob,
but then again, TCU lost on a last-minute drive (after two missed 4th quarter FGs) against Utah, and Alabama was spanked from start to finish by the Utes. Alabama looked slow, sluggish and weak all night, whereas TCU’s bowl win was strong, and their D looked fast all season. Take that into consideration…
Both very good points and I can see both scenarios easily. I created this top ten to try and formulate TCU’s best POSSIBLE finish. While jumping Alabama would be very tough, there is an argument for it to happen.
As far as quality wins, TCU played a pretty tough schedule this season. They won every game convincingly over BYU, and two other bowl teams, Colorado State and Air Force. While stereotypically this doesn’t seem to be that tough, these teams really stepped up their programs this year, and presented a challenge to many good programs.
Also if UT or OU loses my whole theory is down the drain
Thanks for reading and especially commenting!
Mr. Brown–
I like your article wholeheartedly, and agree with your assessment, especially in regards to TCU vs. Alabama. After watching last night, it was confirmed in my mind what I (in my purple colored glasses) had suspected all along: that TCU could have knocked off Alabama as well.
Good article, and I’d be happy to finish top-8, to tell you the truth.