Mountain West’s Treatment of TCU is Undeserved
The Mountain West Conference seems to have taken several steps recently to stick it to TCU now that the Horned Frogs are leaving the conference for the Big East.
Allow me to preface my comments by saying this: I understand the Mountain West Conference’s disappointment that TCU has chosen to leave the conference. However, TCU has earned it. Back to back BCS bowl appearances had the Big East knocking on TCU’s door. But how can anyone in the Mountain West Conference offices fault TCU for taking advantage of the opportunity.
Most importantly, the Big East has automatic qualifying status into the BCS in football. That was the main reason for TCU’s move. However, the Frogs now have placed themselves in what is undoubtedly the deepest basketball conference in America. For another school’s athletic department to say that they would not have made the exact same move as TCU would be hypocritical.
TCU athletics has given the Mountain West Conference something that they have thirsted for for years: a powerhouse program to headline the conference’s athletics.
Not only has TCU now gone to back to back BCS bowls, but the baseball team began 2011 ranked as the #1 team in the land, and they came in the top 4 at the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska in 2010. The amount of money that TCU has made for the Mountain West Conference nearly out-weights half of the rest of the conference combined. Finally, TCU has been nothing but the model athletic program off the field.
In the just released issue of Sports Illustrated’s weekly magazine, TCU is cited as the only school who finished in the top 25 in college basketball that did not have a player with a criminal record. Gary Patterson and his Horned Frogs remain a very clean program. No rumors of foul play ever come from Fort Worth.
So as a final show of ingratitude, the Mountain West has denied several requests of TCU’s football staff, namely Gary Patterson.
First, the Mountain West changed the Boise State game from its first location at Amon G. Carter Stadium to its current location on the blue turf in Boise, Idaho. The Mountain West was undoubtedly lobbied by Boise State officials although the school denies such. In a show of anger toward TCU’s impending departure, the Mountain West granted Boise State the first and only game that TCU and Boise will play as members of the same conference.
Then the Mountain West refused to grant TCU a bye week in week two after the opening game against Baylor. What makes matters even worse is that the Frogs will have to play at Air Force where they will need to gear up to stop the triple option.
The bye weeks that TCU was granted….well let’s just say they are basically no help. They have a bye week before the New Mexico game and UNLV game in late November.
Gary Patterson was not shy of letting his feelings be known when the conference schedule was announced. “The Mountain West Conference has to do what it has to do,” Patterson said. “If I didn’t know any better I’d think the Mountain West was treating us like an independent. I’m not so sure they shouldn’t just consider us an independent.”
Patterson is exactly right that the Mountain West has basically given TCU a signal that they cannot wait for TCU to leave now. Stefan Stevenson wrote on dallasnews.com that:
"One of TCU’s toughest games is Oct. 8 at San Diego State. The Aztecs (9-4, 5-3 in MWC in 2010), auspiciously, have a bye the week before. TCU will be coming off three home games, including an emotional meeting with cross-town rival SMU the week before."
Back to back emotional games will have to be played for TCU to move past SMU and San Diego State unscathed. The San Diego State Aztecs gave the Horned Frogs all that they could handle in 2010 when the Aztecs nearly upended the Horned Frogs at Amon G. Carter stadium, and although head coach Brady Hoke may be gone to Michigan, the Aztecs still have plenty of talent to play with.
While TCU deserves no fairwell parade from the Mountain West, a small amount of gratitude would not hurt. Honestly in the past two years, TCU has been the Mountain West. They have dominated the media and brought attention to an otherwise irrelevant conference that lacks the depth to accrue an automatic bid into a BCS bowl game.
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