And Just Like That...TCU Goes from BCS to...

...the Joe's Plumbing and Bail Bonds Bowl (or something like that).

So I'm saddened by another chance for TCU to truly "arrive" being wasted. I mean, last night's game against Utah (who won, 13-10) was exciting and all, but we gave it to them. If we would have won last night and beaten Air Force at home in a couple weeks, we would have had a great shot to leapfrog other non-BCS school ahead of us (and maybe some bigger schools as they "took each other out") and made it to the biggest game in my tiny school's history.

But, instead (and in large part because our conference, the Mountain West does not really have any exciting bowl tie-ins), we will now be relegated (despite having a much worthier team) to something like the Poinsettia or Armed Forces Bowl (basically played at our home stadium). I realize a "bowl is a bowl", but I guess I remember the days when a bowl game meant a trip elsewhere, a spot on TV that didn't have lots of other competition, etc. But today, you go 6-6, and you may very well get in a bowl, and often there are two or three on TV at the same time. Then you have the fact that conferences have been "ranked", decided if they are worthy of attention, and the Mountain West, which I maintain is a good conference and this year probably stronger than 2 or 3 BCS conferences, doesn't even get a strong opponent for it's "champion's bowl", the Las Vegas Bowl (I think we get the 5th place PAC-10 team...which this year, REALLY doesn't mean much haha). So, despite probably still being highly ranked (I say top 15) in the end, due to our bowl tie-in's...oh well.

That said, I am probably prouder of this year's team (and excited for next...LOTS of key returnees) than ever. There have been several years lately where we were "supposed" to be in the position we were in last night: the BCS buster. This year, we flew under the radar, we played above everyone's perceived potential, and it was very fun and satisfying. As one that has always been naturally drawn to the underdogs in life, it is fun to be a Horned Frog...and I am proud that tiny TCU has quietly become a team nobody wants to play...