My mother is a saint. I’ve never met a more kindhearted and supportive person, and I truly treasure her. Still, she will do one of those occasional mom things that annoys the hell outta me. It never fails that when suffering some sort of massive expense in my life, I’ll promptly call her to complain about it. She’ll listen dutifully, of course, but her response is usually something along the lines of, “Well, at least you have the money to pay for it.” While that is true in most cases, it doesn’t make the situation any less infuriating. Yet it’s all I could think of when I still wanted to be unhappy after TCU throttled the free-fallin’ Oklahoma State Cowboys in Fort Worth on Saturday 38-13, handing the ’Pokes their seventh consecutive defeat.
It’s OK to be unsatisfied with this season as a Frog fanatic, even though from a wins and losses perspective, it’s already been better than the last. We, and surely OK State as well, had high hopes for our position this season in which a newly configured Big 12 lost two of its biggest names while adding many that the Southwestern cohort didn’t perceive to be premium. But it’s not working out for either program this season. Mike Gundy, a Cowboy alumnus and long-time head coach, might be on the hottest seat in the conference despite his almost two decades of previous success. So, I decided to soften the blow of a season that looks to be meeting minimum expectations, but little else, by compiling a list of well-known football brands who are having worse seasons than our Frogs for your reading pleasure.
Oklahoma State is in a similar position to the Frogs during Gary Patterson’s final years. Gundy took over the program in 2005 and has posted a winning record and bowl eligibility every single season outside of that very first one, with many eclipsing nine or 10 wins. Gundy has been a little off-kilter in press conferences and school events as stakeholders call for his job. The Cowboys have won only three games this season and are dead last in the conference with zero Big 12 wins. A big transition could be coming in Stillwater, and no one knows what that will look like if Gundy is compelled to retire early.
We’ll stay in Far-North Texas with the Oklahoma Sooners, who are probably hearing more than their fair share of “Welcome to SEC football!” as they struggle with their new affiliation despite the bags of cash they’re raking in. OU has won only one single conference game so far, against a young Auburn squad. The Sooners are 5-5 thanks in part to an extremely fluffy schedule that includes wins against Tulane, Houston (who, admittedly, are better than we once thought), Temple, and … Maine. With ranked showdowns against Alabama and LSU remaining, the wagon drivers are on pace to win half the games they did last season and will need a big turnaround to reach a bowl game.
The Utah Utes, despite almost knocking off their undefeated rivals last weekend, are suffering mightily after they were the consensus pick to win the conference before the season started. After narrowly beating Oklahoma State in September, the Utes have lost five games in succession and need to win two of their final three to be bowl eligible. Their opponents — Colorado, Iowa State, and UCF — are all capable of beating the Utes and handing Coach Kyle Whittingham, who is in his 20th season as head coach, his first losing record since 2013.
PAC 12, BIG 10, Draw 8, Connect 4 — it doesn’t really seem to matter where the USC Trojans are. They’re going to be a disappointment compared to their former glory. Head Coach Lincoln Riley abandoned Oklahoma for Cali back in 2021 and has performed steadily worse after an inaugural 11-win season. USC is 4-5 with Nebraska, UCLA, and Notre Dame remaining. The Huskers are probably the only easy out left on their docket, and the Red and Gold will need to beat at least one of their rivals to reach an entry-level bowl. Riley was paid big to head out west, and boosters can’t be happy with the obvious mudslide in performance and their inability to win a conference even when they’d rostered a Heisman Trophy winner.
Finally, we’d be remiss not to acknowledge the nuclear meltdown that is Florida State. That team from Tallahassee finished sixth last season, and preseason polls ranked them as high as No. 10. The ’Noles were considered a real contender for their conference and a playoff spot. They worked quickly, losing their first three games before notching their first — and so far only — victory, against Cal by five points, and have lost their last six outings. Fans are hopeful their squad can win their second game of the year against Charleston Southern in two weeks before hosting the Florida Gators in their final game. As bad as last season felt for the TCU faithful after appearing in the national title game, going 1-9 after making a giant ruckus about being left out of the playoff last year is categorically worse.
The Horned Frogs are sitting seventh and in the top half of the conference by virtue of their head-to-head win against Tech. Andy Avalos’ defense produced three turnovers on Saturday, and the TCU offense completed their 11th consecutive quarter of fumble- and interception-free football. The Frogs punted only once and not until the fourth quarter. The game was a relaxed experience for the faithful, and we’ve fared worse against similarly inept teams many times throughout the last two seasons. If nothing else, Saturday reinforced my belief that nothing substantial will change with the current coaching staff, for better or worse. TCU is off this week and will prepare to host the Arizona Wildcats before Thanksgiving for only the third time ever in a “series” in which each team has one victory. The Wildcats are in the bottom quarter of the Big 12, and if Head Coach Sonny Dykes’ Frogs can maintain their newfound impeccability with the football, I expect a victory in their penultimate regular-season outing.
This year won’t go down in the annals of anything historic, special, or particularly memorable, but as Mama Elliott would say, “At least you made a bowl.”
