LAWRENCE, Kan. — TCU’s inclusion into the Big 12 was not free, and the price was fully realized on Saturday afternoon at a popular bar in the worst college football town in America.
On Saturday afternoon under wonderfully mild mid-November Midwest temperatures, a load of young college students gathered at “Bullwinkle’s” in Lawrence to watch “the big game.”
Or ... did they?
At 3 p.m., “the big game” was not even on the handful of TVs in this old-school bar.
It’s 3:02 p.m., and the Kansas at TCU game, which has started, is still not on.
Finally, four University of Kansas frat brothers who look no older than 12 ask the owners to change the channel from the UCLA/USC game to KU/TCU.
These KU undergrads, who are now suddenly attending a football school, actually believe their team was going to beat TCU in Fort Worth.
“We got this!” one Kansas student screamed.
No way to know if he was serious but ... the passion sounds sincere.
That’s what beating Texas in football still somehow means. All of these young fools believe beating Texas validates a football team.
For TCU, Gary Patterson “resigning” as its head coach is the lowest point this program has dealt with since the Southwest Conference-Big 8 merger left it out in the mid ‘90s.
A close second was Saturday afternoon, and its game against Kansas. This was a “battle” of ninth versus 10th in the Big 12.
Save for gamblers, nothing good could've possibly come from this game. Nothing good for TCU did come from this game.
TCU kicked a last-second field goal to defeat Kansas, 31-28, to keep the Horned Frogs' chances of reaching a bowl alive, and to avoid the humiliation of being Texas.
(Full disclosure: The only reason I came here on Saturday is because of the Dallas Cowboys game on Sunday against the Chiefs in Kansas City. I am an indistinguishable Kansas alum, and venturing into this bar was one of the more depressing moments of my life.
(A. I was not carded. B. I was the “old guy” in the club. C. Trying to “work” in a crowded bar was not the best decision as people tried to give me shots and free beer.)
TCU accepted it had problems when its most celebrated, decorated and revered employee “quit,” but what it could not have known when Patterson left was that its descent would feature “an interesting” game against the worst Power 5 college football program in America.
With Kansas leading TCU 14-7 late in the first half, a Jayhawks defender intercepted a pass in the end zone which prompted the KU fans here in the bar to do the ... tomahawk chop.
They’re cheering for the Kansas City Chiefs.
This is hell.
This exact scenario is what every single TCU fan over the age of 30 feared when the school joined the exclusive world of Power 5 football. That, eventually, TCU in the Big 12 would look like TCU in the Southwest Conference.
The good news is that it’s not that bad.
TCU has spent so much money that it will not return to the days when its football team could lose to Allen, or Arlington Heights.
The bad news is that if TCU does not hire “the right guy” to succeed Patterson, this is what it can all look like: playing Kansas for ninth place in the Big 12.
If TCU does not hire “the right guy” to succeed Patterson, this is what it will look like: Giving away scores of tickets to faculty for Senior Day at Amon Carter Stadium, and a crowded bar in Lawrence with a bunch of kids who think Kansas can beat TCU while doing “the chop.”
TCU does not need to win a national title to have a successful football team. It doesn’t even need to reach the College Football Playoff to have a winning program.
TCU football just needs to be relevant, for the right reasons.
That begins by avoiding “interesting” games against Kansas.
