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Frogs’ losses set up must-win
situation Schedule strength has been at the forefront of TCU athletics throughout this academic year. It started in August when the Horned Frog football team started its season which ultimately resulted in a loss in the GMAC Mobile Alabama Bowl. The knock on the TCU football team through its rise and fall in the Bowl Championship Series rankings was its lack of schedule strength in the non-conference capacity. With football season over, the focus and schedule strength discussions have turned to the men’s basketball program. It’s true the Frogs are listed at 13-4 overall and 3-1 in the Western Athletic Conference, and there is nothing wrong with those numbers. However, technically, the Frogs are 11-4 in the eyes of the NCAA selection committee, because, by rule, wins over teams in Division II don’t count toward the final win total when it comes time for selection into the NCAA Tournament’s field of 64. TCU started the season at 6-2 before the university recessed for Winter Break Dec. 15. During the next month, the Horned Frogs posted a 7-2 record with the losses coming on the road against Butler (86-73) and Fresno State (94-82). The other two losses came courtesy of Minnesota (107-99) and the College of Charleston (76-71) in the Thanksgiving Classic in Honolulu. With three losses to teams that aren’t considered to be a part of the upper echelon of college basketball but may be tournament teams come March, TCU hasn’t made an outstanding impression on the NCAA at this point. One way the Frogs could combat that would be to have an impressive performance or two against a ranked opponent. Instead, TCU has wins over Division II schools, Central Oklahoma and Arkansas-Pine Bluff. It should be noted that TCU picked up wins over Princeton and Texas Tech, but again, neither of those teams is having a particularly strong season. With all that said, my point is that a program run by a coach who has a career track record like that of Billy Tubbs shouldn’t have a problem scheduling tougher opponents. Clearly, that doesn’t mean the expectations are to bring Duke and Stanford to town, but Texas and Oklahoma are typically good programs having good seasons and are regionally convenient. In terms of play in the WAC, TCU has three main rivals for the top seed in the WAC Tournament. Fresno State has emerged as the early favorite with convincing home wins against Southern Methodist and TCU. For TCU to be considered as an at-large bid at this point, wins over SMU, Tulsa and a split with Fresno State are a must. That road starts tonight against Tulsa in Oklahoma. Last season, the three games against Tulsa were a disaster. The Frogs lost twice during the regular season (103-70 at Tulsa and 94-73 at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum), and they also got knocked out of the WAC tournament by Tulsa with a 93-71 loss. At 10-6, the Golden Hurricane aren’t off to a start that would say they were close to redeeming status as the team that was five points from the Final Four last season and tied national champion Michigan State and Iowa State for the most wins in the country (32). This year’s team is a much more youthful group under first-year head coach Buzz Peterson. The Golden Hurricane squad has five sophomores, three freshmen, two juniors and two seniors. Gone are guard Eric Coley and forward Brandon Kurtz, who combined to average 23 points a game last season. Tulsa had such depth last season that senior forward David Shelton averaged 13.5 points while coming off the bench for all but two games. That’s not the case this season as the bench has been almost nonexistent. The starting five for Tulsa this season averages 60.2 of the team’s 78 points a game. Tubbs has gotten quality production off his bench this season with the likes of sophomore Bingo Merriex and his 9.5 points a game and junior Marlon Dumont who is averaging 6.4 points a game. Overall, the Horned Frogs lead the nation in scoring offense at 96.8 points a game, but the defense has struggled at times, allowing more than 77 points a game and 80 or more points on nine occasions. The Frogs have gotten their most consistent play from senior guards Ryan Carroll (19.1 points), Greedy Daniels (16.4) and senior forward Myron Anthony (15.1 points), who is finally showing people why Tubbs brought him here from Kentucky. With Fresno State starting to run away from the rest of the WAC field and in the midst of an 11-game winning streak, a TCU win against a team like Tulsa on the road would do wonders for the stretch run of the regular season. A loss, and TCU is not only faced with a must-win situation when Tulsa comes to Fort Worth Feb. 1, but the Golden Hurricane is suddenly back in the middle of the race. Associate editor Danny Horne is a senior broadcast
journalism major from Carrollton. |