TCU Top 10: The highlights of 2017 in football, basketball, baseball

That was fast.

All of a sudden, another year has gone by for TCU athletics. It happened in a flash, just like for everyone.

Now it’s time to slow down and take a look at the best moments in football, basketball and baseball for the Horned Frogs.

Some of them happened out of nowhere. Some were the end of a buildup. All of them were a highlight of the season for three successful squads.

No. 1 -- March 30: A basketball championship. Those are words rarely associated with TCU, but they were never more true than the night the Horned Frogs defeated Georgia Tech 88-56 to win their first postseason tournament. TCU went 5-0 in the event to cap a 24-win season in Jamie Dixon’s first year as coach.

No. 2 -- March 9: Three free throws: Freshman guard Desmond Bane, fouled on a 3-point try with two seconds left, sinks three free throws against No. 1 Kansas in the Big 12 tournament. The shots provide the winning points in an 85-82 victory that put TCU on the national map.

No. 3 -- June 10: Evan Skoug going Evan Skoug. With the Horned Frogs down a run in the eighth inning of Game 1 of a Super Regional series, the TCU senior catcher hit a go-ahead two-run homer. It was the most critical hit of the series, giving TCU a 3-2 lead and paving the way for a sweep with their most trusted playoff starter on the mound the next day.

No. 4 -- Sept. 23: Shining in Stillwater. In what probably is their best overall game of the season, the Horned Frogs dominate a Top-10 opponent and win for the first time at Boone Pickens Stadium since joining the Big 12. Darius Anderson ran for a season-high 168 yards and three touchdowns.

No. 5 -- Dec. 22: Justin Rogers saying yes. The Horned Frogs announce the signing of their second-highest rated player ever, Louisiana four-star quarterback Justin Rogers. No Gary Patterson signing has been rated higher by 247Sports.com. The Frogs won a headline-grabbing recruiting battle with LSU.

No. 6 -- March 21: Triple-double. Kenrich Williams scored 11 points with 14 rebounds and 10 assists, recording the second triple-double in TCU history, to power the Frogs to New York City with an 86-68 victory against Richmond in the NIT quarterfinals at Schollmaier Arena. Williams notched at least a double-double in all five NIT games.

No. 7 -- June 21: The hometown kid. Ryan Merrill, an Omaha native, hit a solo home run in the third inning of an elimination game against Texas A&M. It produced a 2-0 lead with Brian Howard on the mound, more than enough cushion to stay alive in Omaha, and gave Merrill a hometown moment he cherished.

No. 8 -- Oct. 7: GameDay win. ESPN’s College GameDay comes to Fort Worth, and the Horned Frogs deliver with a 31-24 win against West Virginia on a sun-splashed day at Amon G. Carter Stadium. Kenny Hill engineered a go-ahead drive in the fourth quarter and scored the winning touchdown with 2:53 left, and the Frogs remained undefeated on a home run of a weekend.

No. 9 -- Sept. 16: Hold my Hail Mary. Freshman receiver Jalen Reagor flashed his ups with a leaping grab of a last-second heave by Kenny Hill to end the first half of a game against SMU. Reagor outleaped every SMU defender around him, securing one of his team-high eight touchdown catches this season.

No. 10 -- March 18: That was close! TCU right-hander Jared Janczak struck out 14 hitters and took a no-hitter into the ninth inning against Kansas. It ended on a single on the first pitch of the final frame.

This story was originally published December 30, 2017 at 5:44 PM with the headline "TCU Top 10: The highlights of 2017 in football, basketball, baseball."