TCU Sports: Who Made Santa’s Nice And Naughty Lists This Year? Part Two - The Naughty List
It's that time of the year. Time for Santa to look back over the last year and decide who made his nice and naughty lists. Looking back over the year at TCU and in college sports, a lot happened, and Santa has many people and events to consider.
If you missed Part One - The Nice List - read it here.
Now, in Part Two, we first look at the Naughty List.
Santa's 2023 Naughty List
The 2023 TCU Football Season
Just what the heck was that? Sure, we anticipated some regression from the national runner-up team last season. But to go 5-7 and not even make it to a bowl game? It was ugly. It was frustrating. And it was downright disappointing.
The Frogs have started a tradition since it happened the last two years - giving up 65 or more points in the last game played. That alone is worthy of the naughty list and is a tradition that must end.
Yes, Sonny, we agree. We feel the same way. What was that season we just witnessed?
For those who remember the TV show "Dallas," was 2023 TCU's Bobby Ewing year? Remember, one year, Bobby died. Then, the following year, there was no Bobby. Then, the next year, Bobby came out of the shower, and we learned the year before was all just a dream. Was 2022 just a dream for TCU? Did it really happen?
Lost Rivalries Thanks to Realignment
There's no question that conference realignment has altered the college football landscape. One tragedy with all the changes is the loss of some long-running rivalries.
Washington and Washington State have announced the Apple Cup will extend for at least five years. Oregon and Oregon State are trying to get their games scheduled. But it seems to end there. Bedlam? Nope. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State won't be renewing their long-running rivalry game.
Has the last Bedlam game been played? Most likely, we won't see this matchup anytime soon.
TCU and Texas? Nope. Not anytime soon. After the Frogs went 8-4 over the years the teams were in the Big 12 together; Texas probably has no desire to play the Frogs anytime soon.
One of the lost rivalries that really makes no sense is Farmageddon - the matchup between Kansas State and Iowa State. The two teams are still in the Big 12. But now that the new Big 12 will have 16 teams, the league only protected four rivalries - TCU/Baylor, Arizona/Arizona State, BYU/Utah, and Kansas/Kansas State. The longest continuously played rivalry game will come to an end.
NCAA Incompetence
Who amongst us has good things to say about the governing body of college sports? Where do we start on this one? We could be here for a long time just on this topic, but I won't dwell on everything.
Let's start with NIL. It's the wild, wild West, but it didn't have to be that way. Instead of realizing years ago that this was the path college sports was headed, the NCAA decided to fight it. So, instead of having consistency or guidance, it's just a mess.
The NCAA has been totally inconsistent on their transfer policy, specifically on second transfers. Some student-athletes get the waiver, and some don't, yet there is absolutely no consistency or reasoning from case to case.
Did you catch this gem? The NCAA could not even accurately tell us which teams were competing in the FCS Championship Game. The game will be on January 7 and feature South Dakota State vs Montana. Just imagine the outrage had the NCAA said "Florida" instead of "Florida State" or "Mississippi" instead of "Mississippi State?"
Too Many Bowl Games
Sure, Bowl Season is one of the best times of the year. But including the National Championship Game, there are 42 bowl games. FORTY TWO! That means 82 teams had to qualify to play in the bowls. Too many teams were 6-6 and were rewarded a bowl game. Maybe make it 7-5 to have a winning season to get to go bowling.
Did we really need to have the Famous Toastery Bowl?
There are so many bowl games that they've run out of names. Instead, we now get the Pop Tarts, Famous Toastery, Duke's Mayo, and Tony the Tiger Bowls. Enough!
There were so many bowl games that there weren't even enough teams at 6-6. First, James Madison and Jacksonville State had to fight the NCAA (see above) to be able to go bowling only because they had not been in the FBS for more than two seasons. Even letting them play, we still had to get 5-7 Minnesota into the mix. Enough!
Big 12 Refs
As one of my colleagues recently said, if there is a group that would love to hold onto a spot on the Nice List, it's the Big 12 refs. But, since they don't know the meaning of the word "holding," they're getting coal in their zebra-striped stockings this year.
Again, Sonny, we know the feeling. How many times did we want to yell at those Big 12 referees?
Brian McClean, On Assignment Photo/KillerFrogs
Pick a sport. The good news is it's consistent across all sports. Big 12 referees and umpires seem to be in their own competition amongst themselves - whichever crew can call the worst game that week.
Looking back at the football season, pick any game, and you can come up with several incidents when the referees were just bad. There was the fumble after a catch in the Oklahoma game that was not called. There was a horrible pass interference call against Josh Newton in the Texas game. The list goes on and on.
Baylor. Always Baylor.
It just sucks to BU. The best thing in college sports is to see Baylor Tears. Sure, they had a tough football season. Oh well. Sure, both of their basketball programs are in the top 20. At the end of the day, they are still Baylor. They have a perpetual place on Santa's Naughty List.
The best thing in all of college sports - Baylor Tears!
Killer Frogs
Who or what would you put on your Nice List for Santa when it comes to TCU, Big 12, or college sports?
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