The TCU football team made sure the college football playoff committee understood just how good the Horned Frogs are on Saturday. Because there are only four teams allowed in the playoffs, the “Final Four” if you will, there is going to be an argument as to whether or not TCU should be beating out other football teams for one of those four spots.
Coming into the weekend, TCU had the benefit of being ranked number three among the top four. The Horned Frogs were still likely hoping they would get a little help and a little boost by seeing one of those other football teams get dropped in their conference championship game. The Big 12 is the only conference in what is largely known as the “Power 5” that doesn’t have a championship game. Instead, the Big 12 goes the old school route of allowing the champion to be determined during the regular season.
The problem with this approach is that teams like Alabama, Ohio State, Oregon, and Florida State all get to show they had to win an extra game in order to make it into the college football playoff scenarios. Both TCU and Baylor finished knowing they didn’t have to play each other one final time to knock each other off. Here’s the question: Does a 55-3 win over lowly Iowa State count as a statement game for TCU? Clearly, the TCU football team is one of the best teams in the country, but are they one of the top four teams in the country? There is a case to be made they are not.
Part of the problem is the Horned Frogs finished 11-1. That one loss was against another team that desperately wants to claim they deserve to be in the top four. The Baylor Bears managed to outgun the TCU Horned Frogs in a football game where the score looked more like a basketball game, with the final being 61-58. So why isn’t Baylor a shoo-in to beat out TCU and make it into the final four? Because the Bears suffered an upset loss to unranked West Virginia just a few weeks after its football tilt with the Horned Frogs.
The Horned Frogs also have a very close, come from behind win against the very bad Kansas Jayhawks . In the end, this game could end up being the one that keeps them out. While Florida State is the only undefeated team, the other one loss squads look to have better resumes. Whatever the outcome, it seems like that the TCU football team will have a reason to complain if they don’t make it in.
