Can TCU afford to play close against Kansas again?

A close game with Kansas in 2014 did nothing to help TCU’s prospects for the College Football Playoff.

The Frogs left Lawrence, Kan., with only a four-point victory that year. The ball bounced funny, and it was bitterly cold.

Yet for a fifth-ranked team, a 34-30 win against the next-to-last team in the league that season didn’t stack up. The Frogs dropped a spot in the CFP committee rankings, and despite 48-10 and 55-3 victories the next two weeks to close the regular season, they were left out of the four-team playoff field.

A habit of playing close games against Kansas — five years running now — proved damaging three years ago. So as the Jayhawks roll into Fort Worth on Saturday night for a prime-time game, this is probably an opportune time for unbeaten TCU, fourth-ranked and at the head of the pack in the Big 12’s push for the final four, to break that habit.

“I know our kids are excited about it, playing this game,” coach Gary Patterson said. “Because they’ve heard enough. They’ve heard ‘played close.’ ”

TCU is a nearly 40-point favorite.

But it’s not Patterson’s style to try to win by such a large number.

“I’ve never been a run-up-the-score guy,” he said. “If the committee has to look at that, then we shouldn’t have a committee.”

Trouble is, humans make up the committee, and humans compare.

Last week, Iowa State defeated Kansas 45-0, allowing 106 yards. Sure, it rained all day in Ames, Iowa, and the field was a mess. But on dry paper, it’s a 45-point victory.

If the Frogs can’t do something similar against KU this week, the comparison game is bound to work against them.

They must win and win like a top-four team.

But that goes against Patterson’s teachings.

“You can’t really look into killing a team by a certain amount of points or how many points you have to beat a team by,” defensive end Ben Banogu said. “At the end of the day, you just have to look to win the game. It would be nice to win every game by a couple of touchdowns. But at the end of the day, if you win by one point, a win’s a win.”

TCU has six wins, and the closest has been by seven points. The Frogs’ 24.0-point average margin of victory is the sixth-best among the top 10 teams in the AP rankings.

Kansas’ five losses this season are by an average of 28.6 points. That includes a 56-34 loss to West Virginia and a 65-19 loss to Texas Tech.

In a sense, that’s what TCU is up against. Do the Frogs want to be the closest game Kansas plays again?

Patterson goes back to the big picture. Remaining undefeated is the surest way to the College Football Playoff.

“The key you get into is, can you just win by one point? Is TCU allowed to just win by one point and still be able to do the things we need to do?” he said. “One point’s fine with me because I still have to beat those other five opponents later on.”

Then the comparisons will make the most sense.

This story was originally published October 20, 2017 at 12:27 PM with the headline "Can TCU afford to play close against Kansas again?."