halfwaytoheaven
Active Member
So, I'm feeling a bit dour and pessimistic, and since the athletic year officially ended yesterday, I figured it was time for a look back at some TCU athletic programs that didn't achieve quite as highly as Patterson's bunch. Here's the question: which of these teams had the most disappointing season? I measure disappointment as the gap between expected performance and actual results. While the baseball team, for example, had a better record than men's basketball, they also had higher expectations to live up to. A quick review:
Men's Basketball
In Jim Christian's third year, things were expected to turn around for the men's basketball team. The addition of a good recruiting class and transfer Hank Thorns got hopes of a hoops renaissance in the DMC stirring and prompted Athletic Director Chris Del Conte to comment that the squad "looked like a basketball team" (talk about damning with faint praise). Expectations were for a winning season and perhaps a trip to the NIT. Long story short, things didn't work out so well. After a promising start, personnel issues took a toll, and the team lost 13 in a row and 17 of 18 to end the regular season. There was a ray of hope, however, in the MWC tournament as they downed the Wyoming Cowboys and gave BYU a scare.
Women's Basketball
Jeff Mittie's squad boasted a group of very talented seniors that included Helena Sverrisdottir and Emily Carter. Expectations were for yet another conference title and a run at the Sweet 16 or perhaps beyond. The team failed to capture the regular season title and lost to Utah in the MWC tournament. The season (and the TCU careers of some of the best players in program history) ended with a home loss to Oral Roberts in the WNIT.
Baseball
With the entire weekend rotation and 6/8 of the position players (all except Bryan Holaday and Matt Curry - but how important could two guys be?) returning from a CWS darling, expectations couldn't have been higher for Jim Schlossnagle's bunch. Even with the loss of closer Kaleb Merck to Tommy John surgery, a preseason #1 ranking didn't seem unwarranted. A record crowd of over 6,000 packed newly expanded Lupton Stadium to see Matt Purke pitch on opening day. Things got off to a rocky start, though, as the team lost a game to Kansas opening weekend and then dropped a series to CS Fullerton. It was all excused to early season jitters and rust, at least until Purke suffered his first collegiate loss at the hands of previously winless Houston Baptist. The team was beset by fielding and baserunning errors, pitcher injuries, and a lack of timely hitting that cost it winnable games all season. The team seemed to hit its stride late in the year, sweeping MWC opponents, winning a mid-week game in College Station, and taking a key series in Stillwater. TCU won a sixth straight MWC regular season title and hosted a regional for the third straight season despite losing twice to New Mexico in the MWC tournament; they then proceeded to get eliminated by Dallas Baptist and Oral Roberts in Fort Worth to end the campaign. But on the bright side, Schloss may be getting a few more guys back next year than he anticipated. And freshmen Andrew Mitchell, Stefan Crichton and Brett Johnson all had promising or outstanding seasons.
Anyway, call me a Debbie Downer if you want, but what's your opinion? Please explain any "other" responses.
Men's Basketball
In Jim Christian's third year, things were expected to turn around for the men's basketball team. The addition of a good recruiting class and transfer Hank Thorns got hopes of a hoops renaissance in the DMC stirring and prompted Athletic Director Chris Del Conte to comment that the squad "looked like a basketball team" (talk about damning with faint praise). Expectations were for a winning season and perhaps a trip to the NIT. Long story short, things didn't work out so well. After a promising start, personnel issues took a toll, and the team lost 13 in a row and 17 of 18 to end the regular season. There was a ray of hope, however, in the MWC tournament as they downed the Wyoming Cowboys and gave BYU a scare.
Women's Basketball
Jeff Mittie's squad boasted a group of very talented seniors that included Helena Sverrisdottir and Emily Carter. Expectations were for yet another conference title and a run at the Sweet 16 or perhaps beyond. The team failed to capture the regular season title and lost to Utah in the MWC tournament. The season (and the TCU careers of some of the best players in program history) ended with a home loss to Oral Roberts in the WNIT.
Baseball
With the entire weekend rotation and 6/8 of the position players (all except Bryan Holaday and Matt Curry - but how important could two guys be?) returning from a CWS darling, expectations couldn't have been higher for Jim Schlossnagle's bunch. Even with the loss of closer Kaleb Merck to Tommy John surgery, a preseason #1 ranking didn't seem unwarranted. A record crowd of over 6,000 packed newly expanded Lupton Stadium to see Matt Purke pitch on opening day. Things got off to a rocky start, though, as the team lost a game to Kansas opening weekend and then dropped a series to CS Fullerton. It was all excused to early season jitters and rust, at least until Purke suffered his first collegiate loss at the hands of previously winless Houston Baptist. The team was beset by fielding and baserunning errors, pitcher injuries, and a lack of timely hitting that cost it winnable games all season. The team seemed to hit its stride late in the year, sweeping MWC opponents, winning a mid-week game in College Station, and taking a key series in Stillwater. TCU won a sixth straight MWC regular season title and hosted a regional for the third straight season despite losing twice to New Mexico in the MWC tournament; they then proceeded to get eliminated by Dallas Baptist and Oral Roberts in Fort Worth to end the campaign. But on the bright side, Schloss may be getting a few more guys back next year than he anticipated. And freshmen Andrew Mitchell, Stefan Crichton and Brett Johnson all had promising or outstanding seasons.
Anyway, call me a Debbie Downer if you want, but what's your opinion? Please explain any "other" responses.
