FORT WORTH, Texas — Realignment remains the favorite subject throughout the college sports world these days with Texas and Oklahoma bolting for the SEC in the coming years.
TCU football coach Gary Patterson addressed it once again on Wednesday as he met with reporters following one of his team’s scrimmages. Patterson shot down the notion that there’s added “juice” in games against OU and UT.
“No,” he said. “Right now it’s Duquesne, Cal Berkeley, SMU then Texas.”
Told that sounded like a politically correct answer, Patterson smiled and said: “No. If you’ve been around me for four years, that’s the same answer you always get.”
But Patterson made a case for TCU remaining at the highest level and said the school has been through this situation several times. Since Patterson became the defensive coordinator in 1998 and was then promoted to head coach in 2000, TCU has been a member of the Western Athletic Conference, Conference USA, Mountain West and now the Big 12.
“Right now, I’m not worried about it,” Patterson said. “If we have to move again, it’ll be five conferences. That’s what we do. My job is to win.
“For us, we are very marketable from a lot of standpoints — from an academic university from what we’ve put into this university from a facilities standpoint to the level of play that we play.”
TCU’s football program has finished in the top 10 six times under Patterson, including appearances in three New Year’s Six bowls. The school has also spent $500 million to upgrade its athletics facilities, the latest being a $113 million expansion to Amon G. Carter Stadium’s east side.
But Patterson also knows that none of it may matter in the long run. He brought up the 2014 season when TCU appeared to be a lock for the inaugural College Football Playoff. The Horned Frogs closed the season with a 55-3 victory against Iowa State, but somehow dropped from No. 3 to No. 6 in the rankings.
“It’s kind of like being third and winning 55-3 and you get knocked to six. What do you do about it?” Patterson said. “Just get up and keep going. That’s what we do.”
Patterson went on to say that he doesn’t spend too much time thinking about realignment these days. After all, it’s in the middle of fall camp and he has high hopes for the upcoming season.
“I know how I can control what I can control and that’s win,” he said. “If we go 12-0, then people will notice. That’s what we need to do.”
TCU opens the season against Duquesne on Sept. 4. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Amon G. Carter Stadium.
