It wasn’t long ago that TCU was getting drilled not only in Big 12 action, but also in tournaments like the Diamond Head Classic. In one of the last Great Alaska Shootouts, Harvard beat them 71-50 in a game that wasn’t even that close in 2013. While they won the Corpus Christi Coastal Classic a year later, that’s been a somewhat isolated case, and that was a four-team event.
Jamie Dixon has turned his alma mater around very quickly. Their 83-69 win over Indiana State to take home the Diamond Head Classic is the latest sign of it.
While TCU has only been in the Big 12 for six years, they have easily the worst all-time conference record at 23-85 entering this season. 15 of those 23 wins have come the past two seasons with Dixon at the helm. In 2014-15, they memorably went undefeated in non-conference play, then went 4-14 in Big 12 action; a year earlier, they didn’t win a single conference game.
In other words, not long ago, they were basically the laughingstock of the Big 12. It was a good thing they had football, which had become a powerhouse.
Dixon won nearly 73 percent of his games at Pittsburgh and frequently had the Panthers among the top teams in the Big East and getting high seeds in the NCAA Tournament. He was a key part of Ben Howland’s rebuild as an assistant, then kept it going as his successor, and all while the Big East was routinely what the ACC – where Pittsburgh is now – has become in terms of quality at the top and depth all around.
In Dixon’s first year, the Horned Frogs won the NIT. Last season, they went 9-9 in Big 12 play for the first time and reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 20 years. And now, the Horned Frogs are 10-1 and deserving of mention among the nation’s best teams.
When at Pittsburgh, Dixon was routinely criticized for his team’s soft non-conference schedules. It’s been different at TCU, where his teams have taken on all comers – and this season turned back all but defending Atlantic Sun champion Lipscomb. They have knocked off the likes of Fresno State (who they used to see in the Mountain West), SMU (road) and USC at the Staples Center. Last season, they beat Belmont, Yale, SMU and Nevada.
TCU is 10-1 with just one more game left in Hawaii against a non-Division I school before Big 12 play begins. The real question is if they can add to what they have already done under Dixon and be the team that knocks Kansas off its perch atop the conference. It’s a tall order, and we’ll get an early idea since they go to Lawrence in two weeks for the second game of Big 12 play. Considering the leaps they have already made of late, what’s one more?
Side Dishes
Colorado began the day by taking seventh place in the Diamond Head Classic with a 68-53 win over Charlotte, aided by holding the 49ers to just 1-16 on three-pointers. Hawaii then took fifth place with a 68-60 win over Rhode Island in a defensive struggle. Finally, Bucknell sent UNLV home on a bad note, drubbing the Runnin’ Rebels 97-72 behind 14 points and 12 assists from Jimmy Sotos. The Bison shot almost 58 percent from the field, including 14-25 from long range.
Tonight’s Menu
One more idle night is in front of us before action resumes on Thursday and on Friday in earnest.
