TCU News: The Road to NYC Starts Tonight

Basketball:

TCU hopes NIT road to NewYork begins with win in Fort Worth | The Star-Telegram

After a crazy opening night in the NIT, the Frogs have to be thinking, ‘why not us’?

“You look at past TCU basketball history and see the position we’ve been in at this time of year, season after season. This beats nothing,” guard Brandon Parrish said. “We’re glad to be here and see the opportunity ... to go see the Garden. Go see Times Square. If we handle our business the right way, that could be us.”

Bulldogs’ NIT opponent has a lot, but lacks experience | The Fresno Bee

Fresno State has been on-fire the last few weeks of the season, but have a healthy respect for a TCU team that didn’t finish strong, but has plenty of ways to attack.

Terry complimented first-year TCU coach Jamie Dixon on the Horned Frogs’ style of play.

“Guard play, transition defense is really big for us getting back,” Terry said. “We have to do a good job containing (Alex) Robinson and (Jaylen) Fisher in transition. They push the ball up the floor really well. They run a lot of ball-screen stuff. Ball-screen defense is going to be really big for us in this game.”

For Bulldogs, NIT experimental rule changes are no reason to cry foul | The Fresno Bee

Fresno State might not be paying much attention to the rule changes, but for TCU, who struggled in several close games wit the front end of one-and-ones, this might be a big deal.

The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved rules for the NIT that will reset the number of team fouls to zero at the end of 10-minute segments in both halves.

In addition, after a team has reached a four-foul limit, the penalty for all subsequent personal and technical fouls (excluding administrative technical fouls) will be two foul shots, not the current college standard of a 1-and-1 free throw opportunity that starts now on the seventh foul and continues until the 10th foul of each half.

TCU’s Dixon wary of tweak to free throw rule for NIT games | The Star-Telegram

But.. when you hear the Frogs’ head man speak, maybe it’s not a good thing.

“I think the two-shot foul situation will have a lot of impact. With one-and-ones, you have a lot of missed opportunities. It’s happened to us,” Dixon said Monday, referring to multiple missed one-and-one situations during TCU’s losses to Kansas State (75-74) and Oklahoma (73-68) to end the regular-season schedule. “I don’t think the clock situation will matter.”

Former Pitt coach Jamie Dixon is happy at TCU, like always | The Times

Jamie Dixon seems like a man content in his position, but never content with what he’s achieved. That’s a perfect mix for TCU.

“Any guy that’s played and had success when they’ve played there, they have some dream of coaching at their alma mater. I think that’s pretty normal,” Dixon said in an interview with The Times. “It’s a continuation of just doing what I love to do and living where I love to live. I loved every minute of Pittsburgh, (and) I love every minute I’ve been in Fort Worth.”

Football:

Former TCU coordinator Doug Meacham provides energy boost at Kansas | ESPN

Meacham seems to be happy in Lawrence, and we can be happy for him - and still want to kick his butt once a year.

“In terms of career and what I wanted to do long-term, this was a good place,” Meacham said. “A lot of the things that are important to [Beaty] are really important to me.”

Additionally, Meacham had coached with Kansas special teams coordinator Joe DeForest and linebackers coach Todd Bradford at Oklahoma State and with co-defensive coordinator Kenny Perry at TCU.

Meacham believed Kansas was on the right trajectory. “The talk around the league is, ‘Hey, they’re turning the corner. It’s not going to be a layup. They’re a little better than you want them to be.’ The arrow is pointing up," he said, "so I just want to be a part of that transformation.”

Baseball:

TCU stats aren’t all great, but Schlossnagle will take the start | The Star-Telegram

Just get them out of California and everything will be fine. Right? RIGHT? Someone please tell me it’s going to be ok.

“We just haven’t played consistent baseball yet in terms of quality starting pitching, good at-bats throughout the course of an entire game and consistent defense,” Schlossnagle said. “So that’s good news and bad news. The bad news is, it’s not fun to be playing like that. The good news is, we’ve won games.”