What TCU Fans Should Watch Around the Big 12 This Weekend

Three weeks ago, TCU marched up to Manhattan and was dismantled by a Kansas State team that appears to have gotten its act together over the past month. That same fate could befall the Texas Tech Red Raiders, who, after this weekend, must get ready to duel with the top team in the conference, BYU.

As backward as it might sound, the Frogs need to root for Texas Tech to pull off a win. Both TCU and Kansas State have 3-2 records in conference play, with the Wildcats holding the head-to-head tiebreaker. If all goes as planned, Kansas State would continue to rack up losses as the season progresses, meaning TCU could leapfrog (pun absolutely intended) over it.

A Trailer for Next Weekend

Iowa State comes to Fort Worth next Saturday to play TCU, but before the Cyclones can do that, they have to play Arizona State. It’s been an up-and-down season for the Sun Devils and Cyclones, with both holding identical 5-3 records, though Arizona State is 3-2 in Big 12 competition and Iowa State is just 2-3.

Just like with Kansas State, any defeats Arizona State picks up would do wonders for the Horned Frogs. Since TCU will get a shot at the head-to-head tiebreaker with Iowa State next weekend, there’s no need to worry about the Cyclones winning here. The end-all, be-all is that TCU needs teams that beat it to keep losing.

This game also provides Frog fans an opportunity to get an in-depth look at an Iowa State team that’ll be knocking on the door next Saturday. Perhaps some valuable insight can come from watching it compete against a squad TCU already faced this season.

The Game of the Week is in Salt Lake City

College GameDay will be at No. 17 Cincinnati’s road tilt against No. 24 Utah, and you should be watching too. Yes, it’s at 9:15 p.m. CDT, but it’s as important a matchup as the Big 12 has had all year.

Utah’s standing in the conference has little effect on TCU since the two schools don’t play each other, yet it’s still important for Frog fans to root for the Utes to fall here, given that they both share 3-2 conference records. Meanwhile, Cincinnati is undefeated, which makes catching up a daunting task for the two-loss Horned Frogs. Still, there is a path to that happening, though it might have to wait until the end of the season, when TCU hosts Cincinnati the day after Black Friday.

Houston’s Actually This Good?

The same applies to the Houston Cougars, who at 4-1 in conference play are one game ahead of TCU. It’s hard to imagine they’ll lose this weekend at home against West Virginia, but the Frogs said the same thing last week — and we all saw how close they were to faltering in Morgantown.

TCU will take the four-hour road trip down to Texas’ third-best city in three weeks for a game that could define how successful this season is for both teams. That might sound like hyperbole, yet there’s a legitimate chance TCU could be teetering on the edge of either running the table and making it to the Big 12 title game or completely falling off a cliff.

Make-or-Break for Dave Aranda

While UCF-Baylor doesn’t have many direct consequences for TCU — the Frogs already took care of the Bears two weeks ago, and UCF sits near the bottom of the standings — there are still some intriguing storylines to watch.

For instance, will Aranda survive the game? Should Baylor fall, there’s reason to believe the sixth-year head coach might be at the end of his rope. Conversely, a win might convince the powers that be in Waco to hold off on moving on from the coach who led the school to a Big 12 title and Sugar Bowl win in 2021.

As long as TCU stays one step ahead of Baylor in the standings, everything will be all right when it comes to finishing ahead of the Bears.

It’s All in TCU’s Hands

The only factor that’ll actually determine how far TCU can go is whether it can keep winning. Should the team pull off some magic and win out the rest of the way — which would mean beating Iowa State, BYU, Houston, and Cincinnati — a trip to Arlington, and potentially even the College Football Playoff, could be in the Frogs’ future.

Then there’s the other scenario, where the Horned Frogs fall flat on their face and end up disappointed. There’s also a strong chance it all lands somewhere in the middle and TCU finishes 8-4 for the second straight year.

Of course, the only people who hold the fate of the team are the coaches and players themselves. They’ll get an opportunity to take another step toward accomplishing their goals on Nov. 8, when they host Iowa State at Amon G. Carter Stadium at 2:30 p.m. CDT.

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