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TCU Horned Frogs Penalized for Winning Against the Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday

By Charlie Wright

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The TCU Horned Frogs squeaked past the Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday, which should have kept them in the playoff race.

Unfortunately for the Gary Patterson’s team, it didn’t. They have probably been knocked out of contention for the fourth playoff spot. Alabama’s victory over Mississippi State shook up the rankings, and TCU will be knocked out because of their mediocre play against the Jayhawks.

It is unfair to penalize a team for not dominating a game in which they are heavy favorites. Kansas has had a rough season, with just three victories, but hung tough with TCU. The fact that this game was tight dropped TCU in the rankings, even though they pulled out the win.

The flaws of the college football ranking system were supposed to be alleviated by the playoff format. Yet, teams are still punished for the type of victories they earn. There is no reason one win should be different from another.

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TCU dropped to fifth in the rankings, with Mississippi State moving to fourth. If TCU were to have blown out Kansas, they would have stayed in the top four. With Texas and Iowa State left on their schedule, they could have cruised to the playoffs. As long as they won those games handily, of course.

Rankings should be determined solely by record and quality of victories. TCU still has just one loss, and that was to a strong Baylor team. They have four wins against ranked opponents, compared to three for Mississippi State.

The playoff outcome is far from decided. Mississippi State still has to play Ole Miss, and Florida State still has Florida on the road, so a lot could change in the coming weeks. But as of now, it appears TCU will be on the outside looking in, despite a victory this past weekend.

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