Go Frogs?
by Jim Buzzerd
In a few hours TCU and Georgia will play for the NCAA football championship. SEC representative Georgia is a two touchdown favorite over the Horned Frogs of the Big 12. The game will be in the books by the time this is read, but I wanted to mention it. I will be pulling for TCU tonight for several reasons.
One reason is that I typically go with the underdog in games where I have no rooting favorite. In this case since TCU is in the same conference as West Virginia University, the school I follow, I will be rooting for the Big 12 over the SEC. To be clear, if current Big 12 schools Oklahoma and Texas were in this game against Georgia, I would be a Georgia backer.
I don’t see TCU with much of a chance in this game, but I thought the same when they knocked off Michigan in the semifinals. TCU’s success in 2022 must be a head scratcher to West Virginia fans. The Mountaineers beat the Frogs three straight seasons until they lost 41-31 to TCU this past season. TCU was 5-7 a year ago and are now 13-1 going into tonight’s game.
Does that mean West Virginia can turn this season’s 5-7 effort into a championship run next season? Given the current turmoil surrounding Mountaineer football, that would be a resounding no. The Mountaineers open at Rose Bowl champion Penn State next season for crying out loud. TCU playing in this game should inspire other Big 12 schools by showing it is possible to turn it around.
After a promising start to the season the WVU men’s basketball team has lost three straight games following a 76-62 loss to Kansas at home last Saturday. Next up is Baylor at home Wednesday night in what is shaping up as a must win game for West Virginia.
It might be a little early to categorize a game as must win, but if WVU can’t get Baylor at home the Mountaineers will be 0-4 in the Big 12 with two home losses and road losses to Kansas State and Oklahoma State, two teams that should have been beaten. Anyway, getting from 0-4 to a respectable 9-9 Big 12 record won’t be easy if this team doesn’t improve soon.
The Baylor game is at 7 p.m. on ESPN+ and Saturday’s game at Oklahoma is at noon on ESPN2.
