That's not true anymore. TCU is now THE college team of the Metroplex and it's 4 million people. The game day experience since Patterson's success has become a huge social event for the rich and famous of Ft.Worth (with all their Barnett shale money).
I'm sure the fans at TCU have been representing more and more, but what he said is pretty much correct. TCU averages a little over 34,000 fans per game. That's only 77% of capacity at their home stadium. A lot of it just has to do with how small TCU is in terms of enrollment. Here's an article from the TCU student newspaper about it: http://media.www.tcudailyskiff.com/...ttendance.Woes.Future.Uncertain-3831482.shtml
In theory, yes. But they struggled to sell tickets for home games this year. Their only sellout was vs. Utah - none of the other games were even close. It's not necessarily a BAD fanbase, just a small one since they are a relatively small school.
I am pretty sure that Cincinatti was the team that the Bowls wanted to most avoid this year, due to its small fanbase and geography.
I was talking with some folks a few days and, since we don't like the current BCS system, we were all eager to see TCU have a shot to prove itself, whether in the NC game or in a BCS game versus the loser of the SEC championship game. I warned them that TCU might not get the loser of that game, but I never imagined they'd get totally screwed like this. Too bad, was looking forward to another SEC vs MWC battle or least non-BCS (non-BCS bowl tie-in) vs BCS. I'm not much of a conspiracy theorist, so I won't say anything about if the fix is in or not, but it's just disappointing. Playoffs anyone? I think that at this point, the devaluing of regular season games or lengthened season aren't enough reason to prevent switching to a playoffs.
mandel from SI (appears to confirm that TCU was picked first by the Fiesta): I also don't understand the argument why TCU is way more deserving of playing Florida than Cincy - they're both undefeated and according to the BCS rankings, at least, Cincy is better. Obviously you can argue that Cincy's defense sucks, but they can make a case that they "deserve" a shot at Florida as much as the next team.
It's more the disappointment of not getting to play a "BCS conference" school to validate our season than it is saying that we deserve anything over Cinci. It's just convenient how the two undefeated at-large conference schools have to play each other and not a "Big 6" conference champ. Makes the system appear to still work
Yeah but as the writer says, honestly how much more validation does TCU get from beating a very flawed, 2-loss Iowa team, who people were calling out as the worst/luckiest 7-0 team in history, than it would get from beating a higher ranked Boise State team? Yeah but you can argue this both ways - now one of them is assured to finish undefeated and could be ranked 2 or 3 in the final poll, most likely.
Cincy may be undefeated, but Florida will absolutely trounce them. TCU has a shot, albeit a small one. They can actually play defense. If Cincy somehow pulls the upset nothing really happens. But if TCU even keeps the game CLOSE, it further cements their case that they are just as good as the big conference unbeatens. I wonder though why the Fiesta team would take the #4 ranked TCU team over teh #3 ranked Cincy team, at least according to BCS standings. Then I have to wonder why the Orange bowl took Iowa over Boise?? There were only 2 host schools in this years setup not counting the Rose Bowl. Florida at the Sugar Bowl and Georgia Tech at the Orange Bowl. All the others were basically a pickem. You would certainly expect first pick to go to #3 Cincy, though taking #4 TCU doesnt seem so bad. Cincy then goes to the Sugar. But when you get to the Orange Bowl with GT already there, why do they not then take the next highest ranked school?? They took the weakest school left on the board in Iowa.
Which for the BCS is certainly better than TCU upsetting Florida, Cincy beating GT/Iowa, and Boise beating GT/Iowa. And as you see in the pickem: Fiesta takes Cincy, Sugar takes TCU, Orange takes Boise and the Fiesta gets left over GT. Thats if you put them in order.
No, I know. And I wouldn't have been happy about Iowa or GA Tech either, but I just really wanted Florida or Cinci so that we could REALLY measure just how good we are. Not that Boise St is bad or that they might not beat us in the game...I just would rather have had both of us play Florida or Cinci so that I don't have to hear the "weak conference" argument from my UT buddies and everyone else. What also sucks is that we try to schedule hard non-conference games to get national consideration, but teams keep backing out. Arkansas backed out for next year and Tech is trying to do the same thing. Kind of a lose-lose deal when the knock on your team is always the conference that you play in. Regardless, I hope we beat the crap out of Boise St. and we finish in the top 2 or 3. Still a huge feat for TCU
Why is it "better" for the BCS? Nobody is ever going to be satisfied. Better for the BCS, if by that you mean BCS conference schools, would be Automatic-Qualifers kicking the crap out of non-auto qualifiers Now if TCU or Boise wins going away, and Texas is spanked by Alabama - the "screwed by the BCS, we deserved to go to the championship" cries are going to be louder than ever, probably way louder than if Cincinatti knocks off a mediocre Iowa team that is basically there by default.
Just entering this thread for the first time... I have to say that Im pretty pissed. I didnt go to TCU and havent really ever followed them closely. But, come on, this is ridiculous...that team deserves to play a college powerhouse. They earned it. And quite frankly, from what Ive seen of them, I have no doubts that they could at least hang with the big boys. Its a shame that we will never know how truly good this team is. I would have been more interested in TCU vs. Florida than any other bowl game. BCS fail.
It's clear that the people complaining about the matchup aren't aware of how the system works. People in this thread have attacked me because of my statement that Iowa and Georgia Tech would have been the opponents for TCU and Boise. The picks this year went Sugar, Fiesta, Orange, Fiesta, Sugar. Someone earlier in this thread claimed I was making up a strawman with the Iowa/Georgia Tech statement. In theory, yes, it would have been possible to match up TCU with Florida, but in reality, it was clear that would not happen. It's clear that the Sugar Bowl would select Florida as their replacement for Alabama. Next, that leaves us with the Fiesta Bowl. If you're running a bowl, the purpose is to make money, no? The Fiesta Bowl has four options: TCU, Boise State, Iowa, and Cinci. With the first pick, the Fiesta Bowl would never select Cinci. They would select TCU, Boise, or Iowa. The only way for the Fiesta Bowl to get Iowa would be to pick it first, as the Orange Bowl would certainly select Iowa next. Why would the Fiesta and Orange Bowls not select Cincinnati? The answer is easy: Ticket sales to the 2009 Orange Bowl. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Orange_Bowl#Ticket_sales It was patently obvious that Cincinnati would be the last team selected and go to the Sugar Bowl. You think the Orange Bowl wanted to invite Cinci back after the ticket sales of the previous season? Would Cinci fans travel any better to Phoenix where they'd be saying the same thing that TCU fans are saying? ("We deserve a better opponent!") So, the only matchups that were ever going to happen were: Boise vs. TCU, Boise/TCU vs. Iowa and Boise/TCU vs. Georgia Tech. I'm not dreaming up the Iowa/Georgia Tech matchups. I was basing them on a knowledge of how the system actually works. I'm not saying that the system is fair or that TCU shouldn't have the opportunity to play for a national title.
But thing is, do you really think Iowa or GT would take out Boise/TCU?? I don't. This is a down year for the big 10, big east, and ACC. They are ripe to being destroyed by TCU/Boise and the BCS can't take that chance.
THey just ripped into this decision by the BCS on Around the Horn. Good stuff. Woody Paige normally says many many stupid things. But he said EXACTLY what TCU fans are saying. Man this sucks. All the hard work they did, having such a good offense, and great defense.....to have to have a rematch of a team we defeated last year. Ugh.
Because if TCU obliterated Florida or Cinci while Texas squeaked by Alabama, you'd have a legitimate controversy over the national title - the one thing the BCS doesn't want. TCU would have just as impressive a resume as Texas in that scenario. As it is, TCU can't do that because no one will care if they obliterate Boise State. Cinci would be in the same boat, except the national perception of the two is that TCU has everything a national contender should have a - a top 5 defense, a top 5 offense, etc - while Cinci does not. So there's no way there will be a controversy if Cinci beats Florida.
This conveniently ignores two facts: Cinci wasn't very good last year, and it was a pretty blah matchup against an also not-great #19 VaTech. The Orange Bowl last year was the reject bowl of the two teams that had to be selected that no one really wanted. Most importantly, TCU has an even worse fan base and less national following than Cinci. TCU couldn't even sell out their fairly small home stadium outside of 1 game, and Cinci as a university is 5 times the size of TCU. As you said, here's the order: Sugar, Fiesta, Orange, Fiesta, Sugar Sugar: Florida (duh) Fiesta: Iowa (most attractive option) Orange: Not TCU. Not Boise because it's on the other side of the country. Leaves Cinci. Fiesta: Not TCU. Leaves Boise. Sugar: TCU You end up with Boise/Iowa, Florida/TCU, and Cinci/GaTech. Perfectly rational outcome. Not true. See above. That's odd that you use ticket sales as the argument of "knowing the system", while ignoring the fact that TCU is the worst option for ticket sales.
