TCU projected as No. 8 seed in NCAA Tournament field

A lot can happen between now and Selection Sunday in the college basketball world.

But if the NCAA Tournament bracket was released today, TCU would be a part of it based on projections released Wednesday by USA Today. The publication projects the Horned Frogs (17-7, 6-5 in Big 12) as the No. 8 seed in the West Region, with a March Madness matchup against No. 9 seed Minnesota (16-7, 4-6) in San Jose, Calif.

TCU is placed in the same four-team bracket grouping with Gonzaga (24-0), the nation’s lone remaining undefeated team and one of four teams projected as top seeds in the tournament. Two of the four top seeds play in the Big 12: Kansas and Baylor. Villanova, the defending national champ, rounds out the No. 1 seeds based on today’s projections.

TCU improved its NCAA chances with Tuesday’s 62-61 victory over Texas Tech (16-8, 4-7), which gave the Frogs a three-game winning streak against league opponents for the first time in the school’s five seasons as a Big 12 member. TCU secured the victory on guard Alex Robinson’s free throw with 1.4 seconds remaining in a tie game.

TCU last played in the NCAA tournament in 1998. The Frogs’ last victory in March Madness came in the 1987 NCAA Tournament, when first-year coach Jamie Dixon was a player on the Horned Frogs’ team that defeated Marshall, 76-60, in a first-round game.

This story was originally published February 8, 2017 at 10:30 AM with the headline "TCU projected as No. 8 seed in NCAA Tournament field."