Sports column: Frogs' debacle leads to typical overreaction.
Jan. 12—I've been on this planet for a few years and have grown accustomed to knee-jerk reactions from sports reporters, commentators and of course fans.
So, in the wake of the fearsome, 65-7 drubbing Georgia handed the TCU Horned Frogs on Monday cries went out that the Big 12 representative and their ilk should be locked out of the playoffs and the key hidden in a vault somewhere in SEC country.
In a way, the conference that has ruled the playoffs since they were installed was victim to the fact that only four teams were chosen for the dance. If the coming 12 team tussle had been in effect, TCU would have been in and (Oh, Happy Day) Alabama would have no doubt been in the mix. Then the Tide would have rolled into a match with Georgia, or whoever was still alive on the other side of the draw.
I've been watching the College Football wars for a lot of years and haven't enjoyed the playoffs in their present form. Picking only four teams has ensured that the teams currently winning will load up with another collection of talent each recruiting cycle, simply because many players want to go somewhere that they can have a realistic chance of playing on the big stage.
I realize Georgia and Alabama are going to rake in their share of chips under any circumstances, but recent years have seen them hoard talent like never before.
When 12 teams get a realistic shot at the playoff, it makes sense that more players will head for Washington, USC and even places like TCU, despite them being located in a non-SEC zip code.
That's my hope.
As for the Frogs, one week ago they were everybody's darlings. Remember, this team beat every school in the conference in the regular season, then knocked off the unbeaten Big 10 champ for good measure.
They hung 51 points on Michigan who had rambled past their rival Ohio State and came into the title game with a chance to take a swing for the little guys everywhere. The Bulldogs were having none of that and beat the Frogs every way imaginable.
They ran up the middle. They ran wide. They threw swing passes for 10 yards a clip and hit deep shots over the top. We knew going in that Georgia had a vast talent edge over TCU, but we never expected the Frogs to look so inept for an entire 60 minutes.
Meanwhile, Kansas State who snapped the Frogs' 12 game win streak in the Big 12 title game, was mauled by Alabama in he Sugar Bowl. It was a tough one-two punch for the conference to take.
Soon, Oklahoma and Texas will be slipping out of their Big-12 homes to join the SEC titans. They have no chance of keeping up in their new league, some folks are saying, but it hasn't been so many years since the Sooners blew out Alabama and Texas whipped Georgia. And a former Big 12 team, Texas A&M has beaten Bama twice and came close to repeating the feat even in this disastrous Aggie season.
I'll grant you the SEC is the best conference, but the gap is not as great as some think. And the Big 12 will survive the Monday night Frog gigging, after live to fight another day.
