Football
schedule needs shot at big name teams
Coming season looks to be a step up from previous
small-time opponents
Throughout
last week, rumors were afoot that the TCU Horned Frog football team
might have a shot at playing defending National Champions Oklahoma
in next seasons Hispanic Fund Football Classic, a nationally
televised preseason game that can attract a good amount of exposure.
Alas, though,
the honor of joining the Sooners in that game eventually went to
the gridiron grunts from North Carolina, and thus TCUs finalized
2001 schedule, released Thursday, remains conspicuously deficient
of anything resembling a marquee opponent. Wasnt that the
problem last season?
Well, I guess
some things never change. Though theres plenty to like about
next seasons slate, I cant help but feel that whatever
success the team achieves will still stand speechless in the face
of that oh-so-annoying question: Yeah, but who did they play?
Still, lets
focus on the positive for a change. As I said, theres a lot
to look forward to when we get ready for the Gary Patterson era,
so heres the breakdown:
Sept. 1 the
Frogs travel north for a battle with mighty North Texas. Hmm
OK, so maybe theyre not so mighty. OK, OK, so they went 3-8
last year
lets see a half-full glass and say that its
always nice to start the season off with a win. One week later,
the Iron Skillet. Do you think that the Mustangs still remember
the drubbing they received in last years game? Dont
worry, Im sure their band still has a few tricks up its sleeve.
I see this game as a chance for TCU to show Southern Methodist exactly
why the Frogs were asked to make the jump to Conference USA, and
why SMU was left to captain the rapidly sinking Western Athletic
Conference.
At any rate,
while its never advisable to look past any game, its
expected that the Frogs will be taking a 2-0 record back to Amon
Carter Stadium to meet the Thundering Herd of Marshall in the first
home game of the year, Sept. 15. Last year, we were the Marshall
of 2000, having an impressive record while playing no significantly
competitive teams, much like the Herd two years ago. So, in this
match up of apparently talented, yet relatively untested squads,
its difficult to say who will come out on top.
Marshall may
even come the closest to being that elusive marquee opponent,
but not quite, though they did win a bowl game last year.
Regardless
of what happens against Marshall, the Frogs are back to their old
scheduling ways the next week when Northwestern State comes to town.
Northwestern who? Northwestern State. Oh, where is that again? Washington?
Oregon? Somewhere in the Northwest? No, its actually in Louisiana,
so lets hope theyre better at football than they are
at reading a compass.
Last year Northwestern
started Southland Conference play at 3-0 before losing its last
four games of the year. Something tells me this game is not going
to increase the Frogs prestige in the Bowl Championship Series
rankings.
After what
was not an intimidating non-conference schedule in the WAC, weve
all been waiting for C-USA. The Promised Land. Zion with a TV contract.
What can we expect?
Its
difficult to say, but its probably not a bad thing that our
first three conference games are against Houston, Tulaneand Army,
teams which finished among the bottom four in the league last year.
Starting Oct.
30, we should really start to see some benefit from being part of
the C-USA. When East Carolina comes to Fort Worth in a rematch of
1999s Mobile Alabama Bowl, ESPN is coming with them and will
televise the game nationally.
The Pirates
are also a pretty decent crew now, having trounced Texas Tech in
last years a galleryfurniture.com Bowl. After a game against
Alabama-Birmingham and a week off, the Frogs welcome Louisville,
another bowl team from last year and the defending C-USA champion
in what could be a crucial game in deciding next seasons conference
champion.
The final
game of the year, also on national television, will be the one legitimate
grudge match on the conference docket as the Frogs look to avenge
a bitter 2000 GMAC Alabama Mobile Bowl loss at Southern Miss.
So, despite
lacking a big name opponent like the Sooners, its clear that
next years schedule is a step up from last season and hopefully,
indicative of a trend that will continue.
Last year there
was nothing that would irk a Frog fan more than the prospect of
a potential undefeated season going without reward at bowl time
simply because of schedule strength. Even with their one loss last
season to San Jose State, it seemed that the Frogs deserved more
than the Mobile Bowl.
I have full
faith in Pattersons ability to continue to build a solid TCU
football program, and I hope that sometime soon the critics out
there will have no reason to question the on-field successes of
the Frogs. Bulking up the quality of the schedule is a step in that
direction.
Daniel
Bramlette is a senior radio-TV-film major from Ogden, Utah.
He can be reached at (dcbramlette@yahoo.com).
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