Can TCU build on CFP success, overcome Vegas win total

What a school year for TCU Athletics. Finished runner-ups in college football, had their most successful basketball season in 30 years and just advanced to the Super Regionals in baseball. However, it’s already time to look towards next year, starting with a football team that may not be getting the love they deserve after coming in second in the country last January.

Oddsmakers currently have the Horned Frogs win total posted at 7.5 wins for the regular season, even though they went 11-1 last year. Sure, TCU is likely to take some sort of step back but all the way down to seven wins? Really?

On3’s JD PicKell took a look at why the drop in win total may be warranted over on the on3 YouTube channel, but he ultimately agrees with most Horned Frog fans that their football team perhaps isn’t getting proper respect for the 2023 season. Check out his comments in the video here or read them in full just below that:

“Now, the last win total we got to talk about, last time you saw them they were playing in the national title game, and don’t let that deter you from what we’re about to talk about here with TCU.

“There’s a lot of new pieces for this TCU team. The number is 7.5 wins. Max Duggan gone, Quentin Johnston gone, Kendre Miller gone, a lot of really good players for this TCU team that made up the nucleus of the team, that made a national title run, that beat Michigan, they’re all gone. Garrett Riley, I hate to break it to you, he’s also cleaned out his locker, he’s now the OC at Clemson. So you’re saying, ‘JD, where you going with this? You just build me up to tell me that it’s going to be under 7.5 wins? As Lee Corso would say: ‘Not not so fast, my friend!’

“Here’s the deal: it’s a lot of new for TCU, but it’s not a lot of young; like, a lot of these cats have been in the program for TCU. A lot of these cats, if they weren’t in TCU’s program, are coming over from other good college football teams.

“I mean, you see what they got from Alabama: Trey Sanders was a five-star recruit previously at Alabama, never quite found his rhythm there, had some injuries. I think he is a diamond in the rough for them. That was a big pickup through the portal. Chandler Morris, I don’t know why we all just forgot that Chandler Morris was the starting quarterback for this team going into last season. Only through his injury did Max Duggan get a chance to play, so that should tell you Sonny Dykes and company, they believed that Chandler Morris gave them a better chance to win games going into the last year, and we all saw what Max Duggan did, he ended up being a Heisman trophy finalist.

“So I’m not telling you that Chandler Morris is going to be better than Max Duggan, but I am telling you there’s a lot of ability there that should encourage you. Now, you look at this team, you got to bet on the system, you got to bet on the culture. It’s cliche but when it comes to the preseason win totals, we haven’t seen a down of football from these teams just yet.

“The talent, I think, is better on this roster than people like to give credit. Last time we saw Chandler Morris play meaningful college football was against Baylor when he upset their chances of having a College Football Playoff run, just went ballistic in that game. Bottom line: the magic at TCU ix still there for those who listen on podcasts. I’m tapping my my notepad here with my notes, the magic is still there at TCU. Magic hasn’t graduated. We’re taking TCU, we’re taking over 7.5 wins for the Horned Frogs. Go ahead and lock that one in.”