Big 12 Breakdown: A Look at the TCU Horned Frogs

As Conference play begins, the Big 12 welcomes in two new basketball teams this season: Texas Christian University and West Virginia. We will take a look at each one of these teams and what kind of impact they will have in the Big 12 this season.

First, we will examine the mighty Horned Frogs of TCU, who were planning on being in the Big East this season, but decided to make the smart move in play in the Big 12. TCU completed in the Old Southwest conference, Western Athletic Conference, Conference USA and the Mountain West before making the step to move to the Big 12. TCU is know more for their outstanding football team which have been in several bowl games that past few seasons and went 13-0 and defeated the  Wisconsin Badgers in the Rose Bowl in 2010.

Their basketball team is a different story. The Big 12 Inaugural season has already begun for the Frogs and they have already got a taste of this conference by losing to Texas Tech at home this past Saturday by nine points. Tonight they get to travel and play in one of the top five arenas in college basketball as they play the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

They have a new head coach, Trent Johnson, who coached at LSU before taking over the helm.Trent has taken two different teams to the Sweet 16 and has his job cut out for him at TCU. His coaching philosophy, being the new coach and trying to coach a new team will be difficult trying to make an impact this season. Right now the players and coaches haven’t synced together very well, but are starting to come together on offense and defense. They are 9-5 overall, 7-3 at home and 0-1 in conference play.

They need more consistency in scoring and rebounding, and need to be more confident in their shot selection. Their games against Houston, there were guys playing for themselves and not together as a team.  They need to be mentally tough especially in Stillwaterand need to hold on to the ball. Costly turnovers have cost them in about every game they have played this season. The best game they have played so far is against UAB, where they came out to play by being precise, by executing the plays and by being consistent.

I believe they will finish in the bottom of the Big 12 at number 10. They will win a few games at home against Oklahoma, and Iowa State, but it will be hard for them to win on the road. They need to be more consistent, play together as a team and start being more confident. If they can pull all of this together, they might end up winning more games this season.