Frog Status

• NET Rank: 25 (↓4)
• RPI: 66 (↓5)
• KenPom Rank: 21 (↓2)
• ESPN BPI: 24 (↑1)

Bracketologists View of TCU:

• Lunardi: 6-seed vs. #70 Wisconsin / #76 Clemson in Orlando, FL
• Palm: 6-seed vs. #37 Rutgers in Columbus, OH
• Haslam: 6-seed
• Torvik: 99.9% in Tournament; 5.8-seed
• INCCSTATS: 90.9% in Tournament; 6-seed; 4.9% in Final Four

It was right there for the taking for the Horned Frogs, an opportunity to earn its first ever season-sweep of the defending champion Kansas Jayhawks. But you come at the king, you best not miss 30% of your field goals and 8 free throws. Despite its worst shooting night of the season, TCU had the ball with 20 seconds remaining and an opportunity to tie the game, but could not get a good look thanks to the smothering KU defense. In the end, the king stay the king, as Kansas picked up a nation-leading 13th Q1 win as it appears destined for a #1 seed and a chance to repeat as National Champions.

The Frogs will regroup for a trip out west for a date with the suddenly resurgent Texas Tech Red Raiders. TTU has won four straight and is fully alive in the Bubble race, with the fanbase fully engaged and ready to erupt in United Supermarkets Arena. The contest in Fort Worth was a lifetime ago, back on New Year’s Eve 2022, with the Frogs overcoming a 13-point deficit, capped by an Emanuel Miller jam at the buzzer to begin what was an all-time great day for Horned Frog fans. Saturday morning will be another turning point in the season: a TCU win should about close the book on whether the Frogs go dancing while nearly locking up a Top-6 seed; for Tech the game is a near must-win to keep it’s Bubble hopes afloat.

For TCU’s hopes to get a precious Top-4 seed may be dwindling with the missed opportunity against Kansas. However many of its closest competitors for that spot took bad losses this week, including Xavier, Indiana, and Virginia, leaving the door open for the Frogs to keep climbing.

Impact Game of the Week:

• #53 Michigan (↑12) def. #37 Rutgers (↓8) - A monster Bubble Watch showdown took place in Piscataway on Thursday night, sending the Scarlet Knights towards long term parking, with a double-digit Q2 home loss to a fellow Bubble candidate, breathing new life into the Wolverines. Rutgers has now lost four of its last five contests, with its only win being by one point over #70 Wisconsin; needing to win out to get to 20 wins, Rutgers could be in trouble with any loss down the stretch. For Michigan, a two-game win streak has it in a tie for 3rd in the Big Ten and back into the Bubble race; with a pair of Q1 road games remaining (#30 Illinois & #20 Indiana), the Wolverines will have a chance to earn a ticket to the Big Dance.

Climbing:

• #22 Texas A&M (↑6) - They can’t keep getting away with this! The Aggies continue to force me to include them in this climbing section, simply refusing to lose and making another big jump up the charts by taking down #4 Tennessee in College Station. That win very likely ended any chance that TAMU would miss the NCAA Tournament, but with trips to both the Mississippi schools before a date with Alabama in the season finale for the SEC crown, the Aggies could push even further up the bracket.
• #28 Kentucky (↑7) - All the hand-wringing about whether the ‘Cats could get left out of the dance, with UK fans ready to ship John Calipari off to Austin, seems to be ancient history as Kentucky has reeled off three straight Q1 wins and should be a lock into the Tournament. Saturday’s contest against Auburn likely have the winner move beyond the 8/9 seed-line, while the loser will have to fight another day to avoid that fate.

Falling:

• #33 Xavier (↓8) - There was a time when losing by one point to Villanova would have been a beneficial high-quality result, but with Jay Wright no longer at the helm, ‘Nova has fallen off, making the Musketeers’ home loss a Q3 bruise to the resume. Xavier is one of the teams battling TCU for seeding position down the stretch; Horned Frog fans should be rooting for Seton Hall to take down Sean Miller’s squad Friday night.
• #77 Oklahoma (↓16) - The margins are so slim in the Big 12. The Sooners were on the brink of moving well beyond the Bubble, defeating #18 Kansas State and taking #9 Texas to overtime. Had OU won in Austin, it would’ve been a signature victory, but the OT loss may be as close as OU gets to the post-season as the accumulation of losses will be too much to overcome despite a Top 5 overall strength of schedule. The real killer though was Tuesday’s 11-point loss at the hands of the Red Raiders, putting OU two games back in the race to get out of the Big 12 basement. OU will need to win out - 3 games against Top 25 opponents - to have a realistic shot at the NCAA Tournament.

Look Ahead:

• #33 Xavier at #69 Seton Hall - Fri. Feb. 24, 6 PM FS1
• #8 UConn at #97 St. John’s - Sat. Feb 25, 11 AM CBS
• #14 Creighton at #82 Villanova- Sat. Feb 25, 11 AM FOX
• #76 Clemson at #36 NC State - Sat. Feb 25, 11 AM ACC Network
• #35 Michigan St. at #44 Iowa - Sat. Feb 25, 11 AM ESPN
• #15 Arkansas at #2 Alabama - Sat. Feb 25, 1 PM ESPN2
• #66 Arizona St. at #11 Arizona - Sat. Feb 25, 1 PM CBS
• #9 Texas at #12 Baylor - Sat. Feb 25, 1PM ESPN
• #18 Kansas St. at #41 Oklahoma St. - Sat. Feb 25, 1 PM ESPNU
• #22 Texas A&M at #42 Mississippi St. - Sat. Feb 25, 2:30 PM SEC Network
• #26 West Virginia at #6 Kansas - Sat. Feb 25, 3 PM ESPN
• #31 Auburn at #28 Kentucky - Sat. Feb 25, 3 PM CBS
• #21 Virginia at #47 North Carolina - Sat. Feb 25, ESPN
• #20 Indiana at #5 Purdue - Sat. Feb 25, 6:30 PM FOX
• #49 USC at #59 Utah - Sat. Feb 25, 7 PM ESPNU
• #64 VA Tech at #29 Duke - Sat. Feb 25, 7 PM ESPN
• #7 St. Mary’s at #10 Gonzaga - Sat. Feb 25, 9 PM ESPN
• #16 San Diego St. at #46 New Mexico - Sat. Feb 25, 9 PM CBSSN
• #39 Northwestern at #23 Maryland - Sun. Feb. 26, 11 AM Big Ten Network
• #79 Cincinnati at #38 Memphis - Sun. Feb. 26, 1 PM ESPN2
• #37 Rutgers at #56 Penn State - Sun. Feb. 26, 5:30 PM Big Ten Network