TCU News: Basketball faces toughest test yet in Wolfpack

Basketball:

Three keys and prediction for Nevada basketball's game versus TCU | Reno Gazette Journal

Judging this TCU team off of one bad game seems like a mistake. That being said, Nevada is really good, and the Frogs might be vulnerable if Alex Robinson is still out of the lineup.

Nevada 83, TCU 80: Entering the week, I had decided to pick Nevada to lose at Texas Tech but beat TCU. I was nearly wrong about the Texas Tech game – the Wolf Pack should have won that one – and could very well be wrong about this game. TCU is the best team Nevada will face in non-conference play and has a legitimately dynamic offense plus size plus cohesion as this is basically the same team that won the NIT last season with one more year of experience (the Horned Frogs have won 14 straight games). But, I can’t get over one thing: the Horned Frogs nearly lost to New Mexico, which is one of the Mountain West’s worst teams. TCU won that game 69-67 despite the Lobos shooting just 34.3 percent from the field. We shouldn’t judge teams based on their worst game – if that was in fact TCU’s worst game – but it did send up some alarm bells. The Horned Frogs are unbeaten but has played a relatively weak schedule (206th in the nation, per Ken Pomeroy), so this will be TCU’s toughest game yet. It has played some top-100 RPI opponents, but not a top-50 team. Nevada’s role players need to play well and the Wolf Pack needs a “B” or better game overall to be victorious, but I think the team will come out fired up after letting a key win against Texas Tech slip away. Season record: 8-1

No. 20 TCU looks to stay unbeaten vs. No. 22 Nevada (Dec 08, 2017) | Fox Sports

The SMU win was big, but the opportunity to face off with a ranked Nevada squad in a neutral-site game is huge.

TCU (9-0) joined the Top 25 on Nov. 27, the program’s first ranking since having a cup of coffee in the poll in December 2014. The Horned Frogs’ current No. 20 standing is TCU’s best since reaching No. 21 in 1999.

“Coach (Jamie Dixon) really stresses that nobody can do it alone. It’s a whole team thing, and we’ve just been able to come together as a group and string some wins together,” TCU’s Desmond Bane said.

TCU’s latest Bracketology seed is too low, isn’t it? | The Star-Telegram

I don’t care what the Frogs are seeded, as long as they are in. Unless it’s a five seed. Don’t do that to TCU.

What could be hurting TCU is its strength of schedule, which is 102, according to the 2017-18 Daily RPI on ESPN. But its RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) is No. 12 at .6601, just behind projected 1-seed Kansas (.6648).

Other Big 12 teams projected to go dancing include Texas (8), West Virginia (3), Oklahoma (9), and Texas Tech (9).

SMU is a 9-seed and UTA is an 11-seed.

TCU will get a chance to boost that RPI on Friday when it takes on Nevada in Los Angeles at midnight CT as part of the Basketball Hall of Fame Classic. The Frogs will then host Texas Southern and William & Mary before opening up Big 12 play in Fort Worth against Oklahoma on Dec. 30.

Football:

Purple or black? Patterson’s Alamo Bowl shirt color will be late decision | The Star-Telegram

Quit toying with us, Gary. #PurpleShirtWorks

“As usual, there’s a part of the game, as a head coach, where you’re not very smart,” Patterson said Thursday at a press conference in San Antonio. “That’s why I changed shirts, I thought, to become a little bit smarter with the color.”

Patterson had reporters, event organizers and Stanford coach David Shaw laughing about the memory. The question came from the audience: Purple or black?

Patterson said he’s leaning purple, but black has an appeal for — ahem — some coaches.

“By the end of the season, us stocky guys, we don’t look as good on high-definition TV,” he said, drawing more laughs. “It’s kind of a thin thing. It helps you out a little bit.”

Former New Canaan Rams are Bowl-bound with Boston College, TCU football | NC Advertiser

Pretty cool that the Frogs’ recruiting footprint stretches all the way to Connecticut.

When it takes on Stanford in the Alamo Bowl, TCU will be making its 33rd trip to a bowl game and its 15th appearance in the past 17 years. The Frogs went to the Alamo Bowl two years ago and erased a 31-0 halftime deficit to beat Oregon in a thriller, 47-41 in triple OT.

A 6-foot-7, 315-pound sophomore, Niang starts as an offensive tackle and has played in all 13 games this year. The O-line has helped TCU wrack up 421 points.

Collins (6-foot-5, 210 pounds), a quarterback, played at Penn as a freshman before transferring to TCU in the offseason.