College Confidential

Former Aggie commit chooses TCU

TCU picked up the 18th commitment of its 2013 class Sunday.
Athlete Cameron Echols-Luper said he connected so well with current TCU wide receiver Cam White and the TCU coaching staff he committed this weekend before taking his other scheduled visit to Texas Tech.
“Like honestly we are almost alike,” Echols-Luper said of White via text. “We connected great but it was the same with the coaches.”
Echols-Luper and White previously met on the Auburn, Alabama native’s unofficial visit to Fort Worth last summer. Echols-Luper said TCU plans on using him at wide receiver. Earlier this week, the Rivals.com three-star athlete decommitted from Texas A&M citing too many wide receivers committed in the Aggies 2013 class. When he previously committed to A&M, Echols-Luper said he chose between the Aggies and Frogs because he wanted to play close to family he has in Ennis, just southeast of Dallas.

-- Travis L. Brown

 

Alabama tabbed as favorite to threepeat in next year's BCS title game; Texas A&M one of top 4 favorites #TAMU, #Bama

Alabama, college football’s two-time defending national champion, already is the early favorite to make it three in a row in next year’s BCS National Championship Game, based on odds released today by Bovada Sports Book (www.Bovada.lv).

The site has installed the Crimson Tide as a 5/1 favorite to claim next year’s title, followed by Oregon (8/1), Ohio State (17/2), Texas A&M (12/1) and LSU (12/1). A&M, which posted an 11-2 record and finished fifth in today’s final AP poll, is given the best odds for a 2013-14 national championship of any college team from Texas or within the region.

Opening odds assigned to other regional or Big 12 schools include: Oklahoma (25/1), Texas (30/1), Oklahoma State (40/1), TCU (66/1), Arkansas (100/1), Kansas State (100/1) and West Virginia (150/1).

Below is a look at the schools that received individual odds to win next years BCS National Championship Game:

 

Odds to win the 2013-2014 BCS National Championship         

Alabama                               5/1

Oregon                             8/1

Ohio State                     17/2

LSU                              12/1

Texas A&M                   12/1

Florida                          14/1

Florida State                  14/1

Clemson                       22/1

Louisville                               22/1

Notre Dame                   22/1

Miami                               25/1

Oklahoma                            25/1

South Carolina                    25/1

Georgia                            28/1

Nebraska                              28/1

Stanford                        30/1

Texas                               30/1

Michigan                               33/1

USC                             33/1

Oklahoma State             40/1

UCLA                            40/1

Mississippi State           50/1

Wisconsin                            50/1

TCU                              66/1

Virginia Tech                 66/1

Boise State                   75/1

Michigan State              75/1

North Carolina                     75/1

Oregon State                 75/1

Arkansas                              100/1

Arizona                            100/1

Kansas State                100/1

Rutgers                         100/1

Tennessee                           100/1

Washington                         100/1

Cincinnati                             125/1

BYU                             150/1

Pittsburgh                            150/1

West Virginia                      150/1

Auburn                          200/1

Georgia Tech                 200/1

Iowa                              200/1

Missouri                                250/1

Boston College                   300/1

California                              300/1

South Florida                      300/1

 _ Jimmy Burch

 

TCU Baseball Coaches Clinic Jan. 10 open for coaches from all skill levels

The TCU Baseball Coaches Clinic is scheduled from 9 a.m. to noon Thursday at the Sammy Baugh Indoor Practice Facility. The clinic costs $45 and includes a gift for the first 250 attendees and lunch from Spring Creek Barbeque. It’s open to coaches from all skill levels.
Speakers include head coach Jim Schlossnagle and assistants Tony Vitello, Kirk Saarloos and Chuck Jeroloman, and strength and conditioning coach Zach Dechant.
For questions, email coach Jeroloman at c.jeroloman@tcu.edu or call 817-257-6962.
The Horned Frogs' season begins Feb. 15 at Mississippi. TCU begins a three-game series at Lupton Stadium Feb. 22 against Cal State Fullerton. 
-- Stefan Stevenson
@FollowtheFrogs 

Competing coaches in Armed Forces Bowl impressed by updated TCU stadium

The reunion angle ruled today’s news conference at the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl, but with a unique twist.

Although the competing coaches have extensive experience taking teams to TCU’s Amon Carter Stadium, both Air Force’s Troy Calhoun and Rice’s David Bailiff found familiar landmarks missing in the wake of a $164 million stadium overhaul that caused the bowl to be played in Dallas, rather than Fort Worth, the past two seasons.

And that’s a good thing for everyone involved with the Dec. 29 contest.

“I thought I was going to have to duck to get into the visitors locker room. Then, I realized it wasn’t there any more,” said Bailiff, reflecting on lessons learned during his three seasons on the TCU staff (2001-03). “This is just a fabulous venue. It’s completely reinvented itself. You walk around and you go ‘wow’ every time you turn the corner.”

Calhoun took teams to the last three Armed Forces Bowl games played in Fort Worth (2007-09) and played a regular-season season game at TCU in 2010, before stadium renovations began.

“I didn’t recognize the place,” Calhoun said.

In many ways, that is a good thing. Not only are bowl officials happy to be back in Fort Worth after playing the past two seasons at SMU’s Gerald J. Ford Stadium, executive director Brant Ringler said he is confident that eye-catching stadium renovations will forever remove the issue of frozen seats and frozen restroom pipes that marked the chilly 2004 contest between Cincinnati and Marshall.

“Now, I don’t feel like we’re going to have any problem like that,” Ringler said. “This is our home venue. We’re ecstatic to be back here.”

Calhoun praised architects for doing “a great job of blending” the stadium into the existing campus landscape. Bailiff, TCU’s defensive coordinator under coach Gary Patterson during the 2002 and 2003 seasons, acknowledged a warm feeling as he toured the facility Tuesday.

“You take a little ownership at every program you’ve been in. And so, when I walk in here, I feel a little pride that I was a small part of it,” Bailiff said. “It’s exciting to come back and see what this university’s done. This is one of the finest college venues I’ve ever seen.”

SOME NOTES ABOUT THE GAME ...

Seats for military: Ringler said bowl officials have distributed more than 10,000 complimentary tickets to military veterans and active duty personnel who have made requests and additional seats under that promotion are still available. For information, visit www.ArmedForcesBowl.com or call the bowl office at 817-810-0012. Public sale tickets, ranging from $20 to $150, are available online.

Fresh look: Air Force (6-6) will wear specially designed uniforms in Fort Worth inspired by the B-2 Spirit and F-22 Raptor aircrafts. The helmet logo is the top view of a B-2 Spirit aircraft.

Closing surge: Rice (6-6) won five of its last six games to become bowl-eligible despite having only seven seniors on its roster.

“Early in the season, we were losing close football games where all we needed to make was one more play,” Bailiff said. “We found that play late in the year.”

Tale of the Texans: Air Force has 17 players from Texas on its roster, including RB Broam Hart from Alvarado (29 carries, 100 yards, 1 TD). Rice has 87 Texans, including eight from Tarrant County high schools: K Chris Boswell, WR Christian Fletcher, LB Michael Kutzler, CB Ryan Pollard, QB Michael Poynter, C Nate Richards, OL Spencer Stanley and LB Chandler Watkins.

Twitter: @Jimmy_Burch

_ Jimmy Burch

Texas A&M's Joeckel, Manziel earn first-team AP All-America honors; TCU's Verrett a 3rd-teamer #TAMU, #TCU

Texas A&M offensive tackle Luke Joeckel, an Arlington High School graduate and the Outland Trophy winner, joined teammate and Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel, the Aggies’ quarterback, as first-team members of the Associated Press All-America team announced today.

Baylor receiver Terrance Williams also earned first-team honors among a group of seven players from Texas colleges selected to the squad.

Second-team honors went to A&M defensive end Damontre Moore and Baylor offensive guard Cyril Richarson, a North Crowley graduate. TCU cornerback Jason Verrett and A&M offensive tackle Jake Matthews received third-team honors.

In addition to Verrett and the Baylor players, other honorees from Big 12 schools included West Virginia receiver/kick returner Tavon Austin (first-team, all-purpose), West Virginia receiver Stedman Bailey (second team), Oklahoma safety Tony Jefferson (second team), Kansas State quarterback Collin Klein (second team), Kansas State linebacker Arthur Brown (second team) and Kansas State safety Ty Zimmerman (third team).

_ Jimmy Burch

TCU's Amric Fields will have knee surgery Friday

TCU forward Amric Fields will have knee surgery Friday. Fields tore both his anterior cruciate ligament and his medial collateral ligament early in a game against SMU Nov. 15.
Fields was expected to be the Horned Frogs’ scoring leader this season. He made 9-of-14 shots in his first two games and was averaging 11 points and four rebounds.
Aaron Durley, TCU’s freshman center who injured a knee before the season, had surgery last month.

-- Stefan Stevenson
@FollowtheFrogs 

No further penalty for Oklahoma lineman's "push" on TCU's Maponga

Oklahoma offensive lineman Tyrus Thompson will not be suspended for what TCU fans considered a punch to the head of TCU defensive lineman Stansly Maponga in last week’s game.
The Big 12 Conference supervisor of officials Walt Anderson reviewed Thompson “pushing” Maponga’s “head to the ground.” His review of the play supports the foul penalty assessed by game officials, an email from the league said. The Big 12 will take no further action.
Thompson was assessed a 15-yard personal foul on the play in the second quarter of OU’s 24-17 win. Replays appeared to show him on top of Maponga and striking him a couple times with his right arm.

-- Stefan Stevenson
@FollowtheFrogs 

Drama building with OU in danger of losing BCS berth to N. Illinois, which would create major shuffling of bowl matchups

The voters in the coaches poll have spoken. But what they have said by placing Northern Illinios at No. 16 in today’s poll that will be used in compiling the final BCS standings remains open for discussion.
And the final word will not become public until tonight’s release of the final BCS standings (7:30 p.m., ESPN).

The bottom line is that Oklahoma (10-2) would be bumped from an at-large BCS bowl berth if Northern Illinois (12-1), the MAC champ, finishes 16th or higher in the final BCS standings. If that happens, the Sooners _ who envisioned playing Florida (11-1) in the Sugar Bowl on Saturday night _ would wind up in the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic in Arlington, with an anticipated matchup against LSU (10-2) or Texas A&M (10-2).

The situation is fluid and two BCS analysts, CBS’ Jerry Palm and ESPN’s Brad Edwards, have switched their bowl projections today. Both took Oklahoma out of the BCS mix in favor of Northern Illinois (12-1). But both cautioned that the margin will be razor thin. The Huskies will climb in the computer rankings based on their victory over Kent State (11-2) in the MAC title game. But the impact of voters in the coaches poll and the Harris poll figure to be crucial.

Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops did his part to help his team, voting the Sooners at No. 6 and Northern Illinois at No. 24 in today’s final coaches poll. The ballots of voters were released on the USA Today website. Northern Illinois coach Dave Doeren voted Oklahoma 11^th and his team at No. 14.

If Oklahoma does not wind up in the Sugar Bowl, the omission would cost the Big 12 a $6.2 million windfall and would create a reshuffling of the league’s bowl slots. It would sent Texas to the Alamo Bowl to meet a Pac-12 foe (likely Oregon State), with lots of guessing on bowl placements after that. The Big 12 also would need to find a spot for one of its bowl-eligible teams (likely Iowa State) in a game that is not contractually tied to the Big 12.

The SEC slots are being solidified, with Georgia expected to play Nebraska in the Capital One Bowl. That means A&M’s likely bowl destination will either be the Cotton Bowl against OU or the Chick-fil-A Bowl (in Atlanta) against Clemson.

Nothing, as this juncture, has been announced by the SEC in terms of bowl berths. But officials at the Capital One Bowl have announced Nebraska as the Big Ten representative in that contest.

Other Big 12 coaches joined Stoops in voting up the Sooners and voting down Northern Illinois. Baylor coach Art Briles placed Oklahoma at No. 6 and Northern Illinois at No. 19 on his ballot. West Virginia’s Dana Holgorsen had OU at No. 9, with Northern Illinois at No. 24. The ballot of Texas Tech coach Tommy Tuberville mirrored where both teams finished in today’s coaches’ poll: OU at No. 11 and Northern Illinois at No. 16.

Kent State coach Darrell Hazel, whose team lost to Northern Illinios in the MAC title game, voted Oklahoma at No. 11 and Northern Illinois at No. 17 on his ballot.

_ Jimmy Burch

 

OU's Thompson pins and punches TCU's Maponga

Oklahoma left tackle Tyrus Thompson drew a 15-yard penalty for a personal foul during the second quarter of today's TCU-Oklahoma game in Fort Worth. But he clearly deserved to be ejected, based on NCAA rules, for pinning and punching TCU defensive end Stansly Maponga. That is clear on this video, distributed by @sbnation. It will be interesting to see how the Big 12 addresses the situation going forward.

See the video here.

 

_ Jimmy Burch

Where is TCU going bowling? My guess is back to San Diego or Houston but final week could alter destination for many

So where is TCU headed bowling? Wish I could tell you. Too much is still riding on the outcome of the final week of games, especially the Horned Frogs’ regular-season finale against No. 11 Oklahoma at 11 a.m. Saturday at Amon G. Carter Stadium.
The outcome could affect where the Horned Frogs (7-4, 4-4 in the Big 12) are headed in the postseason. If TCU upsets the Sooners, and incidentally, wins its first Big 12 game at home, Oklahoma's hopes of earning a BCS bowl berth would be dashed. The Sooners (9-2, 7-1) could still win the Big 12 title and earn a Fiesta Bowl appearance with a win and a No. 6 Kansas State loss to No. 18 Texas. If Oklahoma loses, then they’ll likely play in the Cotton Bowl.
If the Frogs lose to Oklahoma, they appear headed to the Holiday Bowl in San Diego. That's if San Diego isn't sick of TCU. The Frogs have played in three Poinsettia Bowls, also in San Diego, since 2006, including last year. The Meineke Car Care Bowl in Houston would likely be attracted to TCU, expecting more Frogs fans to travel to Reliant Stadium for the Dec. 28 game against a Big 10 team. The Frogs have played three bowls in Houston since 2001, the last coming in 2007.
Of course, more than conference finish comes into play when bowl representatives are looking to fill the matchups. If TCU wins Saturday, then the Frogs would finish ahead of Texas Tech (7-5, 4-5) and would seem to be in line for the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl in Tempe, Arizona. And if Baylor wins its third consecutive game by beating Oklahoma State Saturday then the Bears would potentially finish in a four-way tie with TCU, Tech, and West Virginia at 4-5. If that happens, then all bets are off on bowl positioning, at least for the middle-tier bowls.
The bowl matchups will be announced Dec. 2.

Here’s how I project the Big 12 standings finishing, with the favored team (Kansas State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and West Virginia) winning Saturday, with bowl destinations and bowl payout (per team) for each bowl:

	Projected standings	Projected bowl	Payout per team (in millions)
Kansas State	11-1, 8-1	BCS Fiesta (Glendale, Ariz.)	$17
Oklahoma	10-2, 8-1	BCS Sugar (New Orleans)	$17
Oklahoma St.	8-4, 6-3	Cotton (Arlington, Tex.)	$3.625
Texas	8-4, 5-4	Alamo (San Antonio, Tex.)	$3.175
Texas Tech	7-5, 4-5	Buffalo Wild Wings (Tempe, Ariz.)	$3.350
TCU	7-5, 4-5	Holiday (San Diego, Calif.)	$2.075
West Virginia	7-5, 4-5	Pinstripe (New York City)	$1.8
Iowa State	6-6, 3-6	Heart of Dallas (Cotton Bowl)	$1.1
Baylor	6-6, 3-6	Meineke Car Care (Houston)	$1.7
Kansas	1-11, 0-9

-- Stefan Stevenson
@FollowtheFrogs