Could TCU football ever really win a national championship?

by Steve Smith of of West and Clear

Hey, TCU, nice No. 7 finish! In the days since college football folded up its tent after yet another implosion by the Crimson and Cream, you could have spent all of your spare time reading columnists opining about the inadequacies of NCAA’s current system of selecting a national champion. Yes, we know, the current system sucks. But a more relevant question for Fort Worth’s purple-clad warriors of the gridiron might be this: what would it take for the Horned Frogs to finish No. 1?

Well, I’ll tell you below, but let me first say this. TCU Coach Gary Patterson and I have something in common other than the fact that we both like the pigs in a blanket at Circle Donuts. We both think the Frogs could win the whole deal under the right circumstances. Unbeelievable? Maybe not.

Is the deck stacked against the BCS busters of the world like TCU and No. 2 Utah? Well, quite frankly, yes. But I still think that an outsider like the Horned Frogs could win a national championship under the current system. Here’s what TCU has going for it:

* The right attitude: Like I said, Patterson believes. To his credit, he doesn’t shrink from the challenge. He told JFlo last week: “What I know is, ‘Hey, I’ve got to play myself into those games.’” If Patterson believes, so will his players.

* A legit defense: It’s an old football truism: Defense wins championships. Patterson knows how to coach defense and, almost as importantly, he knows how to recruit top defensive players. He doesn’t have the same depth of talent as the elite teams, but he has first-teamers who can hang in there.

* The right schedule: Patterson keeps scheduling the Oklahomas and Texases. Good. He understands that being undefeated isn’t enough, he needs a signature win, too. Utah missed the boat when they backed out of a trip to Austin this year. And they missed it by thaaat much.

So, what does TCU need to do to finish first?

* Knock off one of the big kids: Patterson’s won in Norman during the Bob Stoops era, so he’s got his giant-killer bonafides established. But a better strategy might be to pick on a Bowl Subdivision team that everyone still believes is good but would be easier to beat than an OU or a Texas — say an Oregon or a Georgia or a Virginia Tech.

* Get a game changer on offense: LT, phone home. Not since LaDainian Tomlinson lined up in the backfield has TCU had a true difference maker on offense. It’s kind of a needle in a haystack thing, but until the Frogs have a truly exceptional QB or RB, an offensive player who can touch the ball on almost every snap and threaten to score, the defense can only take them so far.

* A little luck: Darrell Royal once said that luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity, which I’m pretty sure he stole from a fortune cookie. But luck does play a role in football. TCU needs to have one of those seasons where the ball bounces the right way for them. You can’t coach that. You just need players who believe.