Football: TCU Ranked 17th in 2023 Preseason AP Poll

The TCU Horned Frogs entered the 2022 season without a single vote in the preseason AP Poll and ended the campaign ranked #2 in the final ballot, following a trip to the National Championship Game. However, given that the Frogs were walloped in said game and have since lost many of the key contributors that brought TCU to such a lofty standing a season ago, the Frogs will again begin a trek towards the top of the ranking. The voters of the AP Poll have followed in the footsteps of the Coaches Poll in appreciating that TCU has reloaded to bring in a Top 20 squad for 2023, but there is little belief that the Frogs can replicate the 2022 magic, placing the Frogs at 17th overall with seven voters omitting TCU from their ballot.

The preseason poll is often the most volatile, as offseason story lines cloud the good judgement of otherwise good voters, as some programs are perennially over ranked due to the constant noise they generate year round. This is an exercise in projection, forecasting the quality of teams once they actually hit the field and results begin to give the rankings more meaning. While one could argue that unranked teams like Texas Tech or UTSA have a case to be ranked ahead of teams with questionable rankings like Iowa or Ole Miss, all of those questions will eventually be answered as teams get the opportunity to prove their worth to voters.

Big 12 Votes

• #11 Texas - Continued recruiting success is sure to generate on-field success. Eventually? It has to, right? Right?
• #16 Kansas State - Big 12 Champs lose superstars on both sides of the ball, but return an elite O-Line and a quality QB with expectations to reach Arlington again
• #17 TCU - A first-year head coach brought his team to 13 wins and a Fiesta Bowl CFP Semifinal win, in year two he returns a starting QB that missed time due to injury; his team is expected to greatly underperform last season.
• #20 Oklahoma - A first-year head coach brought his team to six wins and a Cheez-It Bowl loss, in year two he returns a starting QB that missed time due to injury; his team is expected to greatly outperform last season.
• #26 Texas Tech - A first year head coach brought his team to eight wins and a Texas Bowl win, in year two he returns a starting QB that missed time due to injury; his team is expected to greatly outperform last season.
• #42 Baylor - The Bears opened last season ranked in the Top 10, perhaps with the expectations lowered going into 2023 the Bears will sneak up on opponents to climb back into the Top 25