Season Outlook
Let’s just take a moment to say that TCU has a lot of talent on their team this season. We’ve looked closely at just about all the players you can expect to play major minutes for the Horned Frogs, and it’s clear that if all of the transfers have standout or bounce-back season that TCU will be a very deep team that can make some noise. However, we all know that these optimistic views are unlikely to come to fruition.
Ever since joining the conference in 2012, TCU has been buried by teams like Baylor, Kansas, Oklahoma, and West Virginia, and that trend is likely to continue for years to come, especially when BYU, Cincinnati, and Houston join the conference. However, Dixon has done a phenomenal job with the Horned Frogs and he’s really got his work cut out for him this season. He’s found talent all over the country, including at the junior college level, and now has the unenviable task of figuring out how to best utilize all of their abilities in building his rotations.
Unless TCU starts pulling in top freshman recruits (which they certainly did not do this season), you aren’t going to see people expecting top 25 seasons or fantastic runs from TCU, but that doesn’t mean Dixon is doing anything wrong. He pulled in great recruits as soon as he landed with the Horned Frogs and he spent this past offseason rebuilding the roster from almost nothing into a group of potential studs.
You’re going to see TCU projected to finish either 7th or 8th (or lower) by most experts and that’s a fair assessment for the Horned Frogs. They absolutely could have a fantastic season and pull off a few upsets when Big 12 play begins, but it’s unfair to expect more out of a team that clearly needs time to gel.
Dixon’s work with the Horned Frogs has been stellar, but coming off his worst season at TCU he needs a reset, and he’s certainly gotten that. Could TCU be an NCAA Tournament team in 2022? Anything is possible if they can catch fire in the Big 12.