TCU’s Patterson: One game vs. Buckeyes is enough Ranking the games
TCU coach Gary Patterson is channeling Art Briles. It won’t please Patterson to be compared to the defrocked former Baylor coach, but Patterson sounded an awful lot like Briles earlier this week.
TCU plays Ohio State on Saturday in Arlington, Texas. The Horned Frogs and Buckeyes originally were scheduled for a homeand-home series, but TCU rescheduled to a solitary, neutral-field game.
“Playing Ohio State twice I don’t think is something that helps our program,” Patterson said. “Playing ‘em once definitely helps our program. Playing ‘em twice, I don’t think that’s a good business plan. You already have enough high-intensity games. Great challenge for us, glad we’re playing it, but lot better business plan to play it once instead of twice.”
Patterson is wrong on so many fronts, it’s hard to know where to start. But let’s start with Briles, who famously defended Baylor’s weak schedules when the Bears were national contenders before a Baylor sexual-assault ruined Briles’ career. Briles’ theory was that if the Bears won all their games, they would be in the playoff.
Well, yes. But three Big 12 teams in the last 13 years have gone through the conference schedule unbeaten. Trying to schedule your way to the College Football Playoff is not a good plan. Not in the Big 12. The SEC can do that. The Big 12 can’t.
Patterson trotted out the OU-Ohio State series of the last two years as proof, saying the loser basically was eliminated from playoff consideration. Wrong. The OU-Ohio State winner put itself in prime position to be selected. Last year, for example, the Sooners beat the Buckeyes and got in the playoff. Had they not played, and each beat an inferior replacement, both likely would have finished 12-1 and a conference champion. Would OU have been selected over Ohio State? Unlikely. In 2016, would an 11-1 Ohio State have been selected over an 11-2 Big Ten champion in Penn State, which owned a victory over the Buckeyes, had not Ohio State won in Norman? Unlikely.
Patterson failed to explain how playing Ohio State once was good but twice was bad. The best way to take down an Ohio State, or an Alabama, or an Oklahoma, is to get them on your home field. Why do you think Bama keeps playing neutral-site games against its marquee non-conference opponents? It minimizes the chances of defeat for the usually-superior Crimson Tide.
Patterson admitted all the benefits of the Ohio State game. The Buckeyes are a measuring stick that any team needs, after opening the season with Southern U. and Southern Methodist. And ESPN’s GameDay will be in Fort Worth, which is advertisement a school can’t buy.
But instead of an iconic brand like Ohio State coming to Amon Carter Stadium, it’s coming to JerryWorld. Instead of TCU fans having an overwhelming advantage in numbers, they will be outnumbered in Arlington by college football’s largest fanbase.
Patterson was half right. Playing Ohio State once is good. Playing Ohio State twice is better.
Coach on the hot seat
Texas coach Tom Herman was asked this week if the Longhorns’ marquee game Saturday night against Southern Cal is a chance for the Big 12 to look good. Herman basically answered and said it was a better chance for Texas to look good.
And the real truth is, it’s a chance for Herman to look good.
In his second season in Austin, Herman has an overall record of 8-7. His ‘Horns have been massively disappointing this season, losing 34-29 to Maryland and beating Tulsa 28-21 last week in Austin.
Texas seems not much different than the teams that got Charlie Strong fired after a three-year stretch of 16-21. Texas seems far below the three-year stretch that got Mack Brown fired (25-14 from 2011-13).
A loss to USC would drop Texas to 1-2, and with the ‘Horns next three games against TCU, at Kansas and OU in Dallas, a dismal record could be headed Texas’ way.
Upset special
Kansas ended an NCAA record-ty ing 46-game road losing streak last week, winning 31-7 at Central Michigan.
So which are the real Jayhawks, the team that routed a reputable Mid-American Conference team or the team that lost at home the previous week to Division I-AA Nicholls State?
The Jayhawks weren’t dominant in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. But they were opportunistic. KU held Central Michigan to 280 total yards, and the Chippewas committed six turnovers.
Hard to lose a game when you have a plus-six advantage in turnovers.
Rutgers is a Big Ten alsoran, but the Scarlet Knights are far better than KU’s decade-long futility. Rutgers finished 8-5 in 2014, its first year in the Big Ten.
Heck, Rutgers won three Big Ten games last year alone.
Kansas has three Big 12 victories total since 2010.
KU is a 3-½ point favorite, but go with Rutgers in the upset.
1. Ohio State at TCU, 7 p.m., ABC: Iowa, the Big Ten’s version of TCU, routed the Buckeyes last season.
2. Boise State at Oklahoma State, 2:30 p.m., ESPN: If the Big 12 ever expands, my vote remains Brigham Young and Boise State.
3. Oklahoma at Iowa State, 11 a.m., ABC: Cyclones ended an 18-game series losing streak last year. Believe it or not, that’s not among the two longest losing streaks for Iowa State against OU.
4. Southern Cal at Texas, 7 p.m., Fox: USC’s first trip to Austin in 52 years; the Trojans won 10-6 in 1966.
5. Houston at Texas Tech, 3:15 p.m., Fox: Coaches Kliff Kingsbury of Tech and Major Applewhite of UofH had two duels as Big 12 quarterbacks. Applewhite’s Texas teams won both, beating Tech 58-7 in 1999 and 29-17 in 2000.
6. Duke at Baylor, 2:30 p.m., Fox Sports1: Bears could strike a blow for the Big 12, which is trying to get ahead or stay ahead of the ACC and the Pac-12.
7. Rutgers at Kansas, 11 a.m., Fox Sports Oklahoma: KU beat Central Michigan last week. The Jayhawks’ last winning streak was in 2009, when KU won its first five games. Since then, Kansas is 16-89.
8. Texas-San Antonio at Kansas State, 3 p.m., Fox Sports Oklahoma: Against Mississippi State last week, K-State proved its Week 1 struggle against South Dakota was no fluke.
9. West Virginia at North Carolina State, cancelled: Dang it. This was going to be a good game.