Frogs take on toughest team yet
By STEPHEN HAWKINS
Associated Press

FORT WORTH — TCU knows there’s only one way to continue the debate about whether it deserves to be part of the Bowl Championship Series: keep winning.

For the No. 13 Horned Frogs, who along with No. 1 Oklahoma are the only undefeated teams in major college football, there is no game bigger than Wednesday’s against Louisville. It is the toughest on TCU’s schedule and is being televised nationally when no other game is being played.

“It’s a great game to be spotlighted in as long as you win,” TCU coach Gary Patterson said. “All of that other stuff doesn’t make a difference. I know if we don’t beat Louisville all of these conversations don’t mean much.”

TCU is No. 9 in the BCS standings, the same spot it reached in 2000, after a 7-0 start. The Horned Frogs (8-0, 5-0 Conference USA) have to climb three more spots and finish there to become the first team from a non-BCS conference guaranteed a berth in one of the four BCS bowls.

Officials from the Fiesta Bowl, one of the lucrative BCS games, will be at the game Wednesday. So will representatives from three other bowls, all of them with C-USA ties.

While Oklahoma has stayed undefeated by steamrolling high-quality opponents with an average of 31 points, the Frogs have done just enough to get by in several games. And they are playing the 98th-toughest schedule out of 117 teams.

There have been three wins by just three points, including in overtime at 1-8 Arizona, which fired coach John Mackovic the next day. They also won against one-win Vanderbilt and beat still-winless Army, which also fired its coach. Their season finale is at SMU, which could be 0-11 by then.

When the Frogs finally broke out offensively, scoring 62 points with a school-record 782 yards in their last game at Houston, they won by just a touchdown. TCU’s defense has dropped from fourth to 31st nationally in total defense after giving up 1,077 yards and 82 points in two games.

Now comes Louisville (7-1, 3-1), the C-USA’s top offense at 35 points and 470 yards a game. The Cardinals have won three straight since a double-overtime loss at South Florida, where TCU had one of its three-point games.

“The pressure is on TCU,” Cardinals coach Bobby Petrino said. “They’re undefeated, and they’re trying to be in the BCS picture. They’ve got a lot of pressure on them to win, and we don’t have to worry about all of that.”

Before TCU and Cincinnati shared the C-USA championship last season, the Cardinals had won the previous two titles. The only other team ahead of them this season is Southern Mississippi (5-3, 4-0), which doesn’t play Louisville but does host TCU on Nov. 20.

TCU has won 10 straight games, one fewer than Oklahoma, and 18 of its last 19 despite injuries to quarterback Tye Gunn and two of its top three running backs.

Gunn won’t play because of a groin injury, but Brandon Hassell threw for 375 yards and four touchdowns at Houston.

“We’ve overcome the highs and lows and stayed even keel and played with solid confidence,” Patterson said. “I don’t know how good we are with all of the injuries. We’ll probably have to play our best game of the season.”

If not, the BCS dream will end.