Snubbed Schools/TCU

[50's PONY]

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HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: College Sports

Feb. 28, 2004, 1:51PM


TCU



·Where they were:
Southwest Conference 1923-1996; Western Athletic Conference 1996-2001.

·Where they are:
Conference USA.

·Where they're going:
Mountain West Conference in fall 2005.

·What they've done:
The Frogs have been the most successful of the four non-Big 12 schools in football, with two co-championships in the WAC and one in C-USA, six consecutive bowl berths and an 11-2 finish last season. The men's basketball team made the 1998 NCAA Tournament, and the women have been to the last three NCAA Tournaments. The men's track team has three conference titles, and the women's golf team has been in three NCAA tournaments.

·What they haven't:
Gary Patterson's 2003 football team was on the verge of challenging for a BCS bid before a late-season loss to Southern Miss.

·Since the SWC:
The Frogs have profited in their new surroundings, particularly under Dennis Franchione and Patterson in football. TCU also has been one of the more aggressive schools in scheduling midweek games, including a Wednesday night ESPN game against Louisville that improved their record to 9-0 this past season.
After finishing 64th in the NADCA Directors' Cup standings last year, the Frogs could crack the top 50 this season. Men's golf and men's tennis were ranked No. 6 in the nation this year, and the women's swim team recorded its best dual meet record in school history.

New facilities in the last five years include a 38,000-square-foot addition at the south end of Amon Carter Stadium for offices and an academic counseling center, updated stadiums or fields for tennis, track and field, soccer and baseball, plus a $6 million basketball practice complex adjacent to Daniel-Meyer Coliseum.

-- DAVID BARRON



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HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: College Sports
This article is: http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/2425451