2024 NCAA Tournament: Utah State Basketball-A First Look at the TCU Horned Frogs
Who are the Horned Toads?
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MWC Regular Season Champion Utah State draw battle hardened TCU in First Round matchup in Indy.
First year Head Coach Danny Sprinkle has led Utah State to the NCAA Tournament. With an at-large ticket punched, thanks to one of the more memorable inaugural seasons in Mountain West history in Logan. As the Aggies finished the year with a 28-7 (15-5) record, sole possession of the Regular Season Title & ranked 22nd in the final AP Poll.
Despite losing to San Diego State in the semifinals of the conference tournament on Friday in Las Vegas. The Aggies regular season performance gave them the second highest seed of any Mountain West team, go figure.
With that, fans in Logan heard their team’s name called & paired with former Mountain West member TCU. These two haven’t met on the hardwood since 1982, when Utah State secured the 84-59 win over the visiting Horned Frogs. It definitely was some time ago, as TCU was still a part of the disbanded Southwest Conference & Utah State was a part of the Pacific Coast Athletic Association, now the Big West.
Who Are The Horned Frogs
Some fans around the conference remember TCU from their shared time in the WAC together and later when they joined the Mountain West in 2005. Yes, there were plenty of memories made for teams in Fort Worth. But as the collapse of the Big East began what would become a decade’s worth of conference realignment, the Horned Frogs took the opportunity to rise to the Power 5 level & join the Big 12.
The football driven move made sense for TCU, who never won a Mountain West title of either sort & never finished higher than 5th in the conference. It was a program stagnant and now prepping for a move to one of the country’s most competitive conferences featuring blue blood Kansas & a plethora of other big names.
It was a move that saw the Horned Frogs finish last or second to last place the next four years in their new conference before the coaching carousel blessed them with one of their own.
Coach
Since departing the conference a little over ten years ago, TCU has only had two head coaches, very small by Mountain West standards. Trent Johnson was hired as the man to take the program to the Big 12 promise land. After taking LSU, Stanford & Nevada to the NCAA Tournament before ultimately resigning after a total of four seasons in Baton Rouge.
His time in Fort Worth was short, with only one season finished above .500, it was time to go in a new direction. In comes former starting point guard & coaching heavy hitter Jamie Dixon. Who as a player back in the late eighties, led TCU to the big dance before falling to Notre Dame in the Second Round.
After his playing days, Dixon spent time in the assistant coaching ranks, mostly under UCLA coaching legend Ben Howland. Dixon inherited the Pittsburgh program from his former boss in 2003.
Building the Panther program into a national & Big East powerhouse. Taking Pitt to the NCAA Tournament eleven of his thirteen years with the Panthers, including three Sweet 16 appearances & a run to the Elite eight in 2009.
But what many consider to be a botched move by Pittsburgh’s new AD at the time, sent him back to TCU in 2016. A move he says was timed perfectly, perfect for Horned Frog fans.
Dixon has led his alma mater to four NCAA Tournament appearances in eight seasons. Including three straight with their participation in this year’s tournament announced Saturday. A result fans of the program for the last few decades only dreamed off, but with a track record like Dixon’s, came in no time at all.
Star Players
Sr. F-Emmanuel Miller (6’7, 215)
Stats: 15.9 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 2.7 APG & 1.1 SPG in 33 Games, 33 Starts
Sr. G-Jameer Nelson Jr. (6’2, 205)
Stats: 11.3 PPG, 3.3 APG, 2.6 RPG & 2.0 SPG in 33 Games, 21 Starts
3-straight TCU buckets, including this one from Jameer
TCU 51 – OU 35 | 15:39 2H#GoFrogs pic.twitter.com/jq6lqIvgj9
— TCU Men's Basketball (@TCUBasketball) March 13, 2024
Sr. G-Micah Peavy (6’8, 215)
Stats: 11.1 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 2.7 APG & 1.3 SPG in 33 Games, 33 Starts
Micah Peavy working on a double-double with 13 points and nine boards. #GoFrogs pic.twitter.com/A4bdutrR45
— TCU Men's Basketball (@TCUBasketball) March 14, 2024
How Did They Get Here
Like the Mountain West, the Big 12 was an absolute minefield to navigate from top to bottom. TCU utilized a hot 7-0 start in non-conference play & 11-2 finish to prepare an expected gauntlet in a new look Big 12.
The conference added BYU, Cincinnati, UCF & Houston ahead of the season. Creating the largest version of the conference ever at fourteen teams, before the expected departure of Oklahoma & Texas to the SEC this summer.
So in a conference no member has ever navigated before, for the first & only time ever, TCU went to work. Finishing the regular season with a 21-12 (9-9, 7th in Big 12) record, they joined the conference tournament as a No. 8 seed & a First Round Bye. Their first opponent was the Oklahoma Sooners, whom TCU had only faced once in conference play (A 80-71 win at home in January).
Jamie Dixon’s team survived their Second Round opponent, to advance with a 77-70 win over the Sooners, thanks to a monster 26 point performance from senior Emanuel Miller. The Quarterfinals were not as kind to the Horned Frogs. As No. 1 seeded Houston used a poor shooting night from deep by TCU & stout defense to defeat Dixon’s team 60-45, enroute to the championship game on Saturday.
It wasn’t the way any team wants to go out in March. But finishing in the top-half of what KenPom.com ($) has ranked as the top conference in the entire country by a very credible margin, has it’s perks.
One of those perks being a punched ticket to this year’s Big Dance. Facing No. 8 Utah State as a No. 9 seed in the First Round of the Midwest bracket in Indianapolis, IN on Friday afternoon 5:55 PM MT.
Biggest Wins
Saturday January13th, Home vs. No. 2 Houston 68-67
Saturday January 27th, Away @ Baylor 105-102 3OT
Tuesday January 30th, Home vs. No. 15 Texas Tech 85-78
The Metrics
NET Ranking: 42nd
KenPom: 33rd
Larry Muniz covers college basketball as a writer for Mountain West Wire and WAC Hoops Digest. Also as a co-host of the college basketball podcast “Hoops Talk W/Jay & Larry”. He is also a USWBA Member.
