Frogs Drop Two Spots to #17 in AP Poll

After Saturday’s loss to #4 Ohio State, Gary Patterson was asked how voters should handle TCU, both now and if they were to go on and win the Big 12 Conference. “I heard the other day somebody say, well, Washington lost to Auburn, right? First game of the season. Didn’t they play them in one of the classics? And they said that they shouldn’t hold it against Washington because they played a really good football team. To me, we just got beaten by the number 3 or 4 ranked team in the nation. And so if you could win out, then I think you’d be one of those teams that should give TCU just as much credit for playing a ballgame like this as anybody else you should.”

On Sunday, Patterson and TCU Football got a glimpse of how they are perceived nationally after dropping a 40-28 decision, and the results are... not bad.

The Horned Frogs dropped two spots, from #15 to #17, in Sunday’s AP Poll release, while the Buckeyes held serve at four. In fact, there was no change among the top four teams as Alabama, Clemson, and Georgia all found themselves victorious in week three. The Big 12’s highest ranked team, Oklahoma, remained at five after squeaking by Iowa State in Ames, and West Virginia got a two spot bump to 12 despite having their game against NC State cancelled due to Hurricane Florence. Oklahoma State took a massive leap in front of the Frogs after dominating then-ranked Boise State, propelling themselves all the way to 15. Texas is back in the receiving votes category after beating #22 USC at home.

Three new teams joined the top 25 this week, as A&M benefitted from an impressive win over Directional Louisiana School Saturday and a loss to Clemson last week at home to enter at 22. Boston College (23) and BYU (25) both make their inaugural appearance as well. BC is 3-0 to start the year, as are the Cougars - who dropped then #6 Wisconsin down to 18 with their win over the Badgers.

Other notable movement is LSU moving up to #6 after beating last week’s seventh ranked team Auburn, who finds themselves still in the top ten, at nine. Stanford comes in at seven, while Washington and Penn State are in a dead heat at ten.

TCU travels to Texas next weekend in what is setting up to be a huge conference showdown in the Big 12 opener for both teams. Gary Patterson understands that what happens in September polls only matters so much, and his team has a lot left to do before they need to worry about rankings. “We’ve got a lot of good people we’ve got to play before we get to that point. So, right now, I won’t worry about that. If we can get to the 1st of December, we can have that conversation. But, right now, it’s Texas.”