Hoop dreams? TCU basketball knows it needs 4 wins in 4 days for NCAA Tournament bid.
The beauty of conference tournaments this time of year is that every team is technically alive for a NCAA Tournament bid.
It’s easy for coaches to use that as motivation even though a handful of teams might have a better chance of buying some of George Strait’s ocean front property in Arizona.
But the idea of running the table and going to the Big Dance is the mindset TCU is taking to Kansas City this week.
“Everybody’s starting over,” coach Jamie Dixon said. “Anybody can win.”
Easier said than done, of course.
Every Big 12 tournament champion has enjoyed an opening-round bye since the inaugural tournament in 1997. The Horned Frogs blew their opportunity at receiving a bye when they let Oklahoma rally from a 20-point deficit in TCU’s final home game of the regular season Saturday afternoon.
So, instead of having to win three games in three days, TCU will have to do something no Big 12 school has ever done — win four games in four days — to secure the league’s automatic bid.
Before you say that that is a feat that no school could pull off, consider that Dixon’s Pitt squad did just that in winning the Big East tournament in 2008. And, three years later, Connecticut stunned the college basketball world when the Huskies won the Big East conference tournament by winning five games in five days.
That’s why Dixon brushed off a question during Monday’s Big 12 teleconference whether his team had done enough to secure an NIT bid for the third time in the last four years.
The lower-tiered tournament is a more likely destination for TCU if it’s going to play in a postseason tournament at all.
“I haven’t looked at the numbers,” Dixon said. “Given how we’ve played and what we’ve done, we’re going to go into Wednesday to see what we can do. We know we’re a team that hasn’t put everything together and has gone through a lot of learning experiences.
“We knew this whole season was going to be a process. We’re looking at that and we’ll see how it is. Speculation is just an imprecise science at this point.”
To Dixon, TCU is a dangerous team that has the potential to get hot at the right time. After all, the Frogs have been playing better of late despite the meltdown against Oklahoma.
They defeated No. 2 Baylor at home on Feb. 29, had a lead midway through the second half at No. 1 Kansas last Wednesday and then let a substantial lead against Oklahoma get away, losing in the final second.
TCU has shown resiliency throughout the season, too, defeating Kansas State days after a 46-point loss at Texas Tech. The Frogs also rallied to beat No. 2 Baylor days after a disappointing loss at Iowa State.
“We’ve fought,” Dixon said. “We’re a team that was picked to finish last [in the Big 12]. We’ve got to bounce back up and be ready to go. Our guys will be excited.”
Those are all things to build upon, of course, but having a bye would have made the path to the NCAA Tournament a little more realistic. Now, TCU has its work cut out.
The first step is getting by last-place Kansas State, a team TCU swept in the regular season.
TCU’s lone road victory this season came at Kansas State, a 59-57 victory on Jan. 7, and then it knocked off the Wildcats, 68-57, in Fort Worth on Feb. 15.
The Frogs relied on the 3-pointer in both games, draining 10 in the first meeting and 15 in the second. Senior guard Desmond Bane was TCU’s leading scorer both times with 16 points in the road win and 17 points in the home victory.
“Jamie’s done a nice job with that group,” Kansas State coach Bruce Weber said. “They’ve won a lot of tough games, close games. We’re going to have to play at a high level.”
Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. Wednesday at Kansas City’s Sprint Center.
This story was originally published March 10, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
