SB Nation - TCU Horned Frogs

A&M, TCU Highlight Lousy Schedule For Cougar Basketball

Dustin Rensink — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 23:19:18 -0000

If you were excited (like we were) for the announcement that Houston would play Texas A&M in men's basketball on December 1 of this year, that's great. If you were hoping that the game against the Aggies represented a paradigm shift in how the Cougars schedule in non-conference, I've got some bad news for you.

The Coogs announced their full schedule on Friday, and it was cupcakes galore.

The Cougar slate inexplicably includes not one but two exhibition games. Houston faces Concordia in an exhibition on November 6th to open the season, which makes enough sense. But the Coogs then face Louisiana College 13 days later. The athletics department would like you to believe that the Louisiana College game isn't an exhibition, calling the Concordia game the "lone exhibition", but it's a lie. Games against non-Division 1 teams (like the D-3 Wildcats) are not recognized by the NCAA. (It's not like playing an FCS program in football, which counts as long as you only do it once a year. Playing a D-3 school never counts for anything.) That makes the game, by every definition of the word, an exhibition.

As far as the 12 non-conference games that actually count, eight of them are at home, with four on the road. TCU's 2012 RPI of 119 sadly makes them the "best" team on the schedule, followed by A&M (166) and Louisiana-Lafayette (195). Now, the NCAA ranked 344 teams last year in the RPI. Out of 12 non-conference games (and the 13 that Houston could have scheduled), only two of them will be against statistically above-average teams. Eight games will be against teams that finished in the bottom 100.

Really, there's no excuse to be scheduling like this. Mack Rhoades and James Dickey are entering their fourth and third years at Houston, respectively, so it's not as though they're still waiting out a bunch of bad scheduling contracts. This is a schedule of their doing, and it's one that woefully falls short of the goal of preparing the team to be NCAA tournament at-large berth-caliber. Playing these teams won't prepare Houston as a squad, and even if the Cougars are fortunate enough to beat most or all of them, it won't give them a resume that will impress the committee on Selection Sunday.

Recruiting well and coaching up your talent is difficult because it's a zero-sum game. Somebody wins, somebody loses. But scheduling well is a choice, and it's a choice that the Cougars have failed to make, yet again. And come basketball season, they'll have the nerve to turn around and wonder why there aren't any fans at the games.

Kansas' Dayne Crist, Toben Opurum Visit Elementary School

UZ — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 16:37:47 -0000

Two Kansas Jayhawks captains, quarterback Dayne Crist and defensive end Toben Opurum, visited Hilltop Child Development Center on Thursday. Seated at the 50 yard line of a football field that was taped onto the carpet, the two Kansas players had a reading of two books to the preschoolers there. The books of choice for the day? ''The Very Cranky Bear' and 'The Pout-Pout Fish in the Big-Big Dark'.

Video of the reading was posted by KU on their official YouTube account, along with a 'Go Jayhawks!' provided by all of the kids. Both athletes enjoyed spending the time with the kids as role models:

"It was awesome – it’s great anytime you can go and hang out with younger kids and be a positive role model for them," Crist, KU’s quarterback said after the reading session. "I remember as a young kid that I always looked up to athletes that I watched play and it’s just great being able to give back and be part of the community.

Kansas will face off against the TCU Horned Frogs on Saturday as they try to boost their record to 2-1 on the season following a heartbreaking 25-24 loss to the Rice Owls.

The Week 2 Coaches' Poll, As Represented By 90s Sitcoms

Bill Hanstock — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 18:12:15 -0000

It's college football season again, which means it's time for RANKINGS. Every ranking you can imagine: power, coach, AP, Sagarin, BCS, whatever! Most of these don't make any sense at all! Almost all of them are completely arbitrary! Well, we want to get in on the act as well, you selfish jerks. Here's our version of the coaches' poll, where we explain how each team is like a 1990s sitcom. This will make exactly as much sense as the actual coaches' poll and will probably better explain the reasoning behind the votes.

The full Coaches' Poll Top 25 for Week 1:

Team (first-place votes)

1. Alabama (37) - We're going with The Nanny on this one, not because it's the best 1990s sitcom, but because it's the only one as annoying as Crimson Tide fans.

2. Southern California (14) - Matt Barkley's team is pretty laid-back, just like the titular protagonist in Parker Lewis Can't Lose. Let's all start calling him Barkley Lewis! No, that's dumb. Sorry.

3. LSU (7) - The Tigers want to be Seinfeld, but they're basically just Friends. Hey, that's okay, too!

4. Oregon (1) - Classy and refined, just like that other Pacific Northwest treasure, Frasier. Kelsey Grammer had as many haircuts on the show as Oregon has uniform variations, which is weird for a guy with no hair.

5. Oklahoma - Everyone loves Roseanne, right? Oklahoma may be the least-hate-able of every major college football team.

6. Florida State - You came here for a Golden Girls joke, right? Well then, you're welcome.

7. Georgia - The Bulldogs are The Torkelsons. I'm sorry, but they are.

8. West Virginia - The number-one party school in the nation could only ever be The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, right?

9. South Carolina - Steve Spurrier's squad gets the honor of being Just the Ten of Us, because Steve Spurrier is awesome and so was this show.

10. Arkansas - The George Carlin Show ran for one season and it was awesome. The John L. Smith show will run for one season and will probably not be very awesome at all.

11. Michigan State - Not, you know, FUNNY-funny, but still pretty good. Did I describe Michigan State or Murphy Brown? We'll never know.

12. Clemson - The Tigers get to be Wings, because there's nothing exceptional about either one.

13. Wisconsin - Married ... With Children, but not the good episodes. That lousy two-parter in England with the unnecessary laugh track.

14. Nebraska - Just like Mad About You, you get sick of it pretty much the instant you start watching.

15. Texas - We'll let the Longhorns be Everybody Loves Raymond, because they're always there when you turn your TV on.

16. Oklahoma State - Did you remember that the "Body by Jake" guy had a sitcom? Did you know that sitcom lasted FOUR SEASONS AND 100 EPISODES? I'm just bringing this up because the Oklahoma State Cowboys are apparently still plugging right along.

17. TCU - Cringe-inducing, hammy and hard to even look at. Just like 3rd Rock from the Sun.

18. Virginia Tech - The average VT student's life pretty much exactly follows the arc depicted on Boy Meets World. Everyone at VT is Cory Matthews. Shawn Hunter? He went to West Virginia.

19. Michigan - A Michigan man can appreciate the antics of Home Improvement, although once the episode is over, it's time to get serious.

20. Kansas State - Let's say that the Wildcats are Grace Under Fire, because nobody is going to remember either one at the end of the season.

21. Stanford - Of course Stanford is Head of the Class, right? It pretty much has to be.

22. Notre Dame - Gonna go with Blossom on this one. Everyone likes it in theory, but then you start getting into "very special episodes" and Joey Lawrence won't stop saying "whoa" and ugh just shut up already Notre Dame.

23. Florida - Living Single. You know; the one with Tootie and Queen Latifah. "Tootie" kind of sums up Florida at this point, right?

24. Louisville - Much like the sitcom Coach, Louisville isn't really about college football.

25. Boise State - Family Matters. At the end of the year, they'll realize they had too many Urkels on their team.

And Auburn fell out of the Top 25, which makes Auburn Herman's Head -- good for a while but then just kind of there. War damn Herman's Head.

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Bob Bowlsby Lobs Football Bomb

Jason Kirk — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 19:15:02 -0000

I really like the relationship between the SEC and the Big 12 right now. They're partnered up for what's already one of the two biggest bowl games (despite the game not even existing yet), yet the SEC takes the Big 12's teams and the Big 12 is out here saying it still got the better end of the deal. It's a marriage made strong by stacks and stacks and stacks of dollar bills, the finest solvent yet.

From Dennis Dodd, Big 12 commish Bob Bowlsby comments on the quality of each conference's recent additions [emphasis added]:

"I think it's fair to say that some [conferences] that have gotten larger are now wondering if it's going to be worth it," Bowlsby said Thursday while visiting Kansas on a conference-wide tour. "There are complexities, especially regarding some scheduling issues, that have really caused some problems."

"We're feeling pretty good about 10 [teams]. We're also feeling good we brought in two ranked football teams in exchange for the two that moved out."

This is a pretty good time to be firin' those shots, too, since TCU and West Virginia are coming off fine years and expected to compete right away, while Texas A&M and Missouri went to ehhh bowl games and aren't being picked to do much of anything by anybody. You take your licks when you can, even when it's at a tentative buddy's expense.

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While we’re here, let’s watch some of the many fine college football videos from SB Nation’s YouTube channel:

Finally, Pop Tarts With College Football Logos

Bill Hanstock — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 23:46:05 -0000

Sure, you're a college football fan. You've got all the paraphernalia, you go to every game and if you're the true upper echelon of fan, you've even been to the school. But if you're a real fan, you'd cram your face with any sort of toaster pastry that had your school's logo crudely emblazoned on the frosting. Well you're in luck, pal. This fall, you'll finally be able to put your fandom where your mouth is. By which I mean your mouth.

World-renowned journalist Darren Rovell of ESPN dropped this bombshell on Monday:

Kellogg’s strikes deal to make Pop Tarts with 5 schools logos on them: Arkansas, UNC, Florida, Michigan & Georgia.
— darren rovell (@darrenrovell) August 20, 2012

He even has a picture of the North Carolina Tar Heels packaging, which will accompany a flavor called "Tar Heel Berry." Which is probably the most appetizing name for a college-themed food product since USC released those "Trojan Blasters" Fruit Gushers.

Just guessing the names of the other four flavors:

- Ala-JAM-a

- Michi-JAM

- University of Geor-JAM

- Florida Gators "Big House" Slammer-JAM

Twitter is always running wild with jokes, but here are some flavors we'd like to see:

Syracuse Orange Orange: The favorite breakfast of people who play zone defense. Imagine how gross an orange-filling Pop Tart would be. If you don't think that sounds gross, you probably root for Syracuse.

Auburn Tigers Thai Chili Challenge: Think you've got the stones to eat this one, kemosabe? Why don't you man up and strap on a man's breakfast? This one'll have you screamin' WAR DAMN PASTRY.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish Breakfast: Filled with rich Irish cream, this one will get you so amped up for the day that you'll be ready to punch a cop! Then you'll punch a cop.

TCU Horned Frogs "Special Recipe": This one is obviously just crammed full of drugs.

For all news and information regarding the wild world of college football, please stay tuned to SB Nation's dedicated NCAA football hub.

VIDEO: TCU Is No. 11 In The SB Nation Studios College Football Countdown

brandon_k_scott — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 18:54:45 -0000

TCU is No. 11 in the SB Nation Studios college football countdown as the anticipation grows toward this season. After three conferences in 16 years, the Horned Frogs return to relevance in their first season in Big 12 Conference and a chance to compete for a national championship.

In the latest video, Bill Connelly notes that the big story for TCU is returning to major college football. Perhaps they should've been there all along. TCU has won 10 games in nine of the past 12 seasons. They've been good consistently for the past five years and it's something the Big 12 recognized when the conference began to fall apart.

Now TCU is running with the elite. Check below the jump to see why their game against Kansas is so important. No, really.

Read more on TCU at SB Nation Dallas. Head over to the NCAA football page for more around college football.

TCU's Linebacker Coach Resigns, Randy Shannon Named As Possible Replacement

Jeremy Mauss — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 00:48:14 -0000

The college football season is less than two months away but the TCU Horned Frogs are in the market for a new linebackers coach.

Tony Tademy who has been the Horned Frogs linebackers coach since 2005 abruptly resigned this past week because he said he wanted to spend more time with his family. However, sources are saying that Tademy is planning to stay in coaching and will become an assistant coach at Duncanville High School.

Tademy had held the same position at TCU since 2005 and has coached several players who went onto have careers in the NFL which include David Hawthorne, Jason Phillips, Daryl Washington and Tank Carder.

His replacement is unknown but a pair of sources say that it could be former Miami Hurricanes head coach Randy Shannon.

For more on TCU football go visit Frogs O' War, and visit SB Nation's college football hub for even more college football news.

TCU Basketball Coach Trent Johnson Comments On The Move To The Big 12

Bill Hanstock — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 19:32:31 -0000

The TCU Horned Frogs are gearing up for a big 2012-13 season for their basketball program. The school will be a member of the Big 12 for the first time and have a new head coach to go along with their new conference. It will be a landmark season in many respects and the Frogs will be hoping to make a big splash behind new head coach Trent Johnson

Andy Katz at ESPN collected some thoughts from head coaches around the country that are overseeing teams moving to new conferences this fall. Johnson had some thoughts on the big conference move.

"I've always had the energy, but this conference move to the Big 12, the private factor and the education here and the proximity to players," Johnson said. "We're being perceived with some curiosity and a wait-and-see attitude, as it should be. It's going to be tough and a challenge."

"All of the competition in the league comes here to the Dallas-Fort Worth area," Johnson said. "The timing is right."

TCU fans should be excited about the move ... and they have every right to be.

For lots more on the TCU Horned Frogs, please visit Frogs O War. And of course, you can always stay tuned to SB Nation's dedicated college basketball hub for all the goings on in NCAA hoops.