TCU happy to be in title talk with 1 game left

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP)—With one more victory, fourth-ranked TCU will be waiting to find out where—not if—the Horned Frogs will be playing in the Bowl Championship Series.

All that stands between the Frogs (11-0, 7-0 Mountain West), their first undefeated regular season in 71 years and finally being a BCS buster is Saturday’s home finale against New Mexico (1-10, 1-6).

Coach Gary Patterson characteristically reminded everybody Tuesday that there is still one more game left, even telling a story during his introductory remarks about when he was an assistant coach for an 0-10 Tennessee Tech team that beat a 10-0 team in a season finale.

Patterson even pointed to the tiny, yet very obvious clear spot on the lower two-thirds of the team’s pyramid of goals: the New Mexico game waiting to be colored in purple if they win. The Frogs are listed as more than six-TD favorites.

Florida, Alabama or Texas will have to slip up to create a chance for TCU to be the first outsider to play in the BCS national championship game and an opportunity to fill in the to box and the loftiest goal: No. 1, national champions.

So there is the distinct possibility that the Frogs will be undefeated for the first time since 1938, when Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Davey O’Brien led TCU to its only national championship, and not get a title shot.

If that happens, Patterson said he isn’t planning to whine about it.

“As soon as I win this ball game, I’m not going to turn this into a negative season,” Patterson said. “We’re going to let other people decide all the rest of that stuff. … I’m not going to turn this into ‘Woe is us and you guys didn’t do what we needed to achieve.’ It’s still going to be a box we’ve ever gotten to on that pyramid.”

The Frogs have never been closer to a BCS game. The closest previously was 2003, when they won their first 10 games before losing at Southern Miss. The only other time they won 12 games, which they have a chance to do Saturday, was 1935.

Even if TCU doesn’t get a title chance this season, Patterson believes the Frogs have been successful in the fact that they are being mentioned with Florida, Alabama and Texas in those conversations.

“Whether we play for a national championship at all, we’ve already won that battle because our name has been mentioned,” Patterson said. “I would think 12 years ago, maybe five years ago, to ever think that we’d be in this situation where TCU would be mentioned in the same breath as a Florida, an Alabama and a Texas, we’ve already put ourselves in a position that I feel we’ve already won.”

TCU will be playing for the 12th consecutive Saturday. The Frogs were one of only two FBS teams who waited until the second Saturday of September to play their first game.

It’s been a long grind, and maybe even tougher than usual despite the success.

“When you have these kind of seasons, actually you probably work harder,” Patterson said. “I’ve stayed later doing things, trying to find more answers. Because when you have a group that’s playing like they’re playing, you want to make sure it’s not your fault. You cover every base that you could possibly cover with everything you can.”