Will TCU football remain in the playoff field despite Kansas State loss?

Needing a win to ensure a playoff berth, TCU football went into Saturday afternoon’s game against No. 10 Kansas State will everything to potentially lose.

The Horned Frogs looked tight all game long until Max Duggan put together a huge fourth-quarter comeback to rally after trailing 28-17. The Horned Frogs tied it up thanks to the legs of Duggan as he was visibly exhausted after leading a long touchdown drive with minutes left and converting the two-point try to tie it up at 28-28.

Overtime was back on the table and the Horned Frogs needed to just carry the momentum over and win the game and a playoff spot was theirs.

Down to the 1-yard-line with three more downs to score a touchdown, TCU just couldn’t convert, coming just short and turning it over, controversially. The third-down play looked like it may have been a touchdown but it wasn’t reviewed.

Kansas State kicked a chip-shot field goal to win and potentially end the Horned Frogs’ playoff hopes.

But should this loss boot the Horned Frogs from the field?

Should TCU football be eliminated from the playoff?

Going into the game, TCU was ranked No. 3 and it felt like it was a lock to make the playoff but with the Crimson Tide ranked No. 6 and Buckeyes at No. 5, it felt like the committee was kind of hoping for a field of Georgia, Michigan, Ohio State, and Alabama.

A loss by USC on Friday night got Ohio State in, more than likely, and it all came down to the TCU result for Alabama. A loss would likely get the Tide in, right?

Well, that may be what the playoff committee wants, but it would be very difficult to justify leaping a two-loss non-SEC title game-attending Alabama team over a Big 12 runner-up that lost in the title game to the No. 10 team in the country for their first loss of the season.

I don’t think this loss eliminates TCU. The fact that it went from a potential double-digit loss to Kansas State to an overtime defeat helps the Horned Frogs. The committee simply cannot vault the Tide ahead of the Horned Frogs after an overtime top-10 loss in the conference title game when Alabama didn’t even make theirs.

If you’re a TCU football fan, you should feel comfortable that your team should be in the field, but we’ll see where the committee’s priorities land on Sunday.