Is March Madness within reach for TCU? Breaking down the Frogs’ postseason chances
The TCU men’s basketball team feels it’s starting to peak at the right time, knocking off No. 2 Baylor on Saturday and hanging with No. 1 Kansas for most of the night on Wednesday.
“We’re starting to hit our stride,” TCU senior guard Desmond Bane said. “Guys are playing with energy, playing with confidence. We’ve been communicating much better across the board, which has kept us in games against the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the country.”
The question becomes if it’s too little, too late for TCU to get in the NCAA Tournament conversation. The Horned Frogs (16-14, 7-10 Big 12) are ranked 89th in the NET and appear more like an NIT team at this point.
But this is a team that isn’t ready to give up on going to the Big Dance.
Count KU coach Bill Self as a believer in TCU’s March Madness worthiness if it continues to play well down the stretch.
“If TCU wins Saturday and they go win a game or two in the tournament, they’re going to get in,” Self said.
The Frogs have a chance to earn a bye in next week’s Big 12 tournament if they defeat Oklahoma in the regular-season finale on Saturday at Schollmaier Arena.
At that point, making a run in the Big 12 tournament by winning three games and securing the league’s automatic bid doesn’t sound as far-fetched as it did a week ago.
Or, as Self said, if TCU simply gets to the championship game it may be enough to justify a spot in the field.
Most project the Big 12 to receive five bids to the NCAA Tournament with Kansas and Baylor leading the way. Texas Tech and West Virginia are expected to get in with Texas making a strong case of late.
OU is also in the mix, and TCU sits as a potential dark horse.
“If things fell right, you could still get seven teams in the tournament,” Self said. “I thought five was the number, but I think there’s a chance that we can get more than five.”
For TCU, the first step is securing a bye in the Big 12 tournament. Every team that has won the conference tournament has had a bye.
Since becoming a 10-team league in 2012, only Baylor has reached the championship game without a bye in 2014. The Bears also got to the championship without a bye in 2009 when it was a 12-team league. The only other team to reach the championship game without a bye in league history was Missouri in 1997.
At the end of the day, winning three games in three days compared to four games in four days is a much simpler task. But Dixon has seen it done before.
His 2008 Pitt team, for instance, won four games in four days to win the Big East tournament.
“It’s doable,” Dixon said. “But I just want to play good in the next game. That’s the No. 1 goal. The bye thing is a little bit lower on the list. I want to play well because I think we’re playing good basketball now.”
