Can Sonny Dykes get TCU in the top 25 by the end of the season?

a listener asked me if I think TCU football can finish the season in the top 25 I certainly think they can I also feel like a lot of that will depend on what the AP poll and the college football playoff poll think about the new Big 12 I'll explain next turn lock on horn frogs your team every day you are locked on horn frogs your daily podcast on the TCU horn frogs part of the lock locked on podcast Network your team every day locked on horn frogs your team every day subscribe to the YouTube channel we're also free and available wherever as you get your podcast subscribe on your favorite podcast platform we're brought to you today by game time if you need tickets use the game time app and do that today the AP Top 25 and the coaches poll are out preseason polls have made their appearance they did so earlier this week and I haven't so far spent any time on those polls because TCU is not in them and I'm not I don't have beef about that like I don't expect TCU to be in these preseason polls coming off a five and seven season and I mean I think there's a lot of reason for optimism around the frogs but I totally understand most voters that aren't locked into TCU are probably just like well who knows what they're gonna be right but I had a listener ask me on Twitter or X whatever you want to call that social media site now he uh his name is Tim Finch and I appreciate him listening to the show and interacting do you believe that TCU football can slash will in the season in the top 25 well I definitely think they can I mean there's a clear pass for them to make the top 25 we see teams that are unranked each and every year work their way in there will they I I said the other day I'm I'm thinking eight and four so if I had to guess now does eight and four in the new Big 12 get in the Top 25 Poll I would say yes I would love to hear your thoughts on that whether that's on YouTube or through social media whatever you think the the case is going to be but it is sort of hard to predict because we don't know how the college fo all playoff poll which is really the only one that matters at this point I mean the AP Top 25 Poll is still interesting and I understand why people look at it but the playoff poll is really the one that is the official um pollster now there's five teams in the preseason AB Top 25 Poll that are playing currently in the Big 12 you lose Oklahoma in Texas you out a few schools and I think it's gonna be a a parody driven League there is a lack of blue blood teams but there's still a lot of good teams in this conference and a lot of the teams that are ranked in the preseason polls are teams that TC is going to be facing off with head-to-head in the upcoming schedule so if they can pull off a few upsets and win some of those games then yes we're certainly talking about a team that should be at least in the conversation to be in the top 25 when the season ends I will quickly run down the AP Top 25 preseason poll Georgia is at number one Ohio State at two Oregon at three Texans at four Alabama at five Old Miss at six Notre Dame at seven Penn State at 8 Michigan at 9 and Florida State at 10 so there's five teams in the new Big 12 that are in the top 25 pole but you see kind of the line of demarcation here because there's no big 12 teams that are in the top 10 in the preseason poll now many people have pointed out over the last few days there's always a team or two that start the season in the top 10 and end up falling out but I mean we met jokes about the SEC and how much ESPN and other media Outlets cater to them the Big 10 sort of moving towards that similar uh narrative and wave because of what they've done in realignment and a little some of it's overblown but the bottom line is nine of the top 10 teams excuse me eight of the top 10 teams in the country no trame and Florida State being the exception in the preseason top 25 Poll are all teams from the SEC or the Big 10 now Oregon I mean that used to be Pack 12 team but they're not anymore Texas new SEC Squad Old Miss getting a lot of hype Alabama uh with kayin dor moving on from Nick sa but still very much in the mix Georgia is the number one team in the country Ohio State Michigan Penn State I mean it's it's stacked with teams from those two conferences but the big 12 does make an appearance further down in the poll uh Utah's at 12 and then Oklahoma state is at 17 Kansas State at 18 Arizona at number 21 and Kansas at number 22 so those are your five teams in the AP Top 25 we're living in a weird world where Kansas is a preseason top 25 team there's a lot of hype around what they're doing Lance Li a great coach they have Jaylen Daniels coming back if you can say healthy they have very creative offense um a defense that's been solid for them the last few seasons so they're there in the top 25 and they're going to get a shot to uh to stay there so TCU this year they'll play Utah they'll play Oklahoma State they'll play Arizona and they'll play Kansas so four of those five teams that are in the top 25 at least in the preseason the frogs gonna be matching up with them head-to-head and that's why I I get a little confused I mean I I understand the sentiment it's really coming from a place of frog fans are like the schedule's much easier now because in theory there shouldn't really be teams that we play year in and year out that are significantly more talented than us from like a recruiting ranking standpoint um like Texas and Oklahoma were for years but this is a competitive league and there are good teams there are physical teams that TCU is gonna be playing each and every week they have to go on the road to play Kansas now that game's going to be Arrowhead it's not going to be in Kansas State so that'll make a difference they have to go on the road to play Utah um they get Arizona at home I can't remember if they get Oklahoma State at home or not I'll quickly look that up but you get the picture I mean there are difficult games on this schedule even with a shakeup in the schedule itself um with a new look conference that Oklahoma State game is at home at well so that as well so that'll be helpful but they're playing good teams in this conference getting back to my original point though if you win eight or nine games in this league I think you have a great AR argument to be in the top 25 at the end of the season and I feel like that's going to carry some weight now how important is that moving forward with the expanded playoff and the fact that we're gonna have 12 teams and that's really going to be kind of the cut off I don't know but I I've said multiple times TCU needs to take a step forward this year and show some consistency now I'm not going to be mad if they win 10 games that's awesome if they win 10 or 11 games I'll celebrate I'll be thrilled I'll be excited but there's been so much up and down over the past really decade I guess you could say that putting together a solid season where you get Bowl eligible win a couple extra games maybe pull off an upset or two that would be a good step forward for sunny dyon year three showing hey proof a concept showing a clear identity that the team itself can churn forward and keep getting this done and also just because they haven't been able to do that in a while right like it's it's been Boomer bust in a big way and so that would be a nice change if they could be more consistent and and find some Middle Ground there but if you win eight or nine games and I think the games that you win if you find a way to knock off Utah on the road that's a signature win if you find a way to beat Kansas in Arrowhead Stadium that could be a signature win um if you beat Oklahoma State in Arizona at home and pull off that upset that's a huge feather in your cap so those are the types of games that TC is gonna have to win to stay in the National conversation and that will be what leads them to gain recognition at the end of the season and making him the top 25 and then you're also probably talking about winning your bowl game whatever ends up being to end the season on a high note and just kind of have a good lasting impression on the voters um another thing that was dropped today was S&P plus rankings and so if you don't know what that is Bill Conley who used to be at Nation he's now at ESPN college ball rider he's put together his own formula of Power Rankings and he has a an algorithm that you know looks at returning production what the team did the year prior and comes up with preseason rankings and then he updates them all throughout the season and he breaks it down with offense defense and special teams and the overall ranking for the team itself so TCU comes in at number 38 in the country they're right behind UCLA at 37 Boise State uh right below them at 39 and if you look at the S S&P plus rankings it's very similar to top 25 Georgia Ohio State in Oregon are one two3 Alabama Texas Penn State for the next three Michigan Old Miss not your name in LSU round out the top 10 as far as the individual unit rankings so 38th overall for the frogs he's got them as the 30th ranked offense in the country the 46th ranked defense and then 81st in special teams so if you're gonna make a jump and pull off some surprising wins then you have to be strong in one area he projects the offense is going to be strong this year I think another place where they can steal some points steal some wins hopefully it's special teams and I don't expect Bill Conley to be super well versed on TCU and what they're doing on special teams this year but Kyle liberman as the kicker is going to make a big difference South Lake Carol product coming in coming in has a huge leg and I want this offense to be more efficient but last year putting Griffin Kell in 50 plus yard field goal situations was a death sentence like you were coming out with no points a lot of the time I don't want to live like that but I think Kyle has the type of leg to make those kicks more consistently and at least put three points on the board uh Ethan craw coming over from Australia as the punter hopefully he can be a boost Jordan Sandy sort of struggled last year and then in the return game can you get something from your oppent returners from your kick returners Jordan Bailey major everheart JoJo Earl those guys making explosive plays will help the whole team and then defensively I mean 46 in the country that's not a super high bar to clear so if you can be slightly better than that with a bright off defensive mind like Andy Alo is taking over that's a big deal if you're curious okay what are where are some other teams ranked that TCU is playing this season Stanford who they'll play in the season opener they ranked 77th in the country SMU is actually 27th in the country 22nd rank defense 39 or excuse me 22nd ranked offense 39th on defense and then uh 99th in special teams but still good for 27th in the country overall um UCF is at 45 so not too far behind TCU Arizona at 28 who they'll play late in the season Oklahoma state is at 20 Utah is at 18 so some good teams that they're going to be playing this year here um and let me get Kansas on here on these rankings see where they are well I lost my play so I might have to might have to look at that later but you get you get my drift there's some competitive teams that they're playing this year that are ranked higher than them um but to start the season Stanford at 77 even though the Cardinal has some returning production that's a game that hopefully TCU can take care of business and I'm not sure how comfortably they'll win but I feel like if they're ready to rock and roll that's a game that they should be able to to handle and get a victory in um when we come back we will break down we we got some news on the scheduling front we have a game time for TCU and SMU the iron skillet we'll talk about that next during lockdown horn frogs it's your team every day speaking of game times man I love a 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locked on college is promo code to get $20 off your first purchase download the game time app do it today all right we got a we got a game time for TCU SMU saw this from Jamie plunket I mean was press release but I saw Jamie tweet it out TCU SMU will kick off September 21st at 3 pm on the CW that's right frogs and ponies on the CW I gotta say I forgot that that was part of the acc's TV deal was that they were on the CW I'm gonna have to work I don't like I don't know how to access the CW we we're cord cutters well we bum off my in-law's Direct TV subscription but you know we just download apps and kind of view what we can so I got all the sports apps down on my on my TV and I know where to find everything but the CW is not one that I've ventured to to look at so far uh I did find this very funny TCU fans have been making jokes about this all day um is there going to be a masters of Illusion episode before the game or there'll be a rerun of Riverdale after this contest the CW's gotten into sports a little bit they've got live golf and I know they you know they do ACC basketball and ACC football during the fall and into the winter but it is one thing that's ironic about it to me when the news leaked out I guess it was last summer probably yeah it must have been last summer because by the time TCU and SMU played it was already a storyline when the when the news leaked out last off season that TCU was going to end the series with SMU and no longer play them I will be honest I am someone that thinks there's still value in playing SMU um I think it's a fun game I feel like the teams are good natural Regional Rivals obviously um I think SMU is committed to getting better I will make fun of them for pulling a Lori login and just buying them their way into a major conference and it's especially funny now because it looks like the ACC is kind of teetering on maybe a collapse depending on if they can keep Florida State and Clemson happy Drake toll from Lockdown Big 12 has been has done a great job over the last few months and weeks covering realignment and where it's going and where the winds are kind of Shifting in that world but I do think SMU is getting better they've committed to trying to be a big- time football program again and it's a fun game but when it was announced that the series was going to come to an end and TCU was mainly responsible for saying hey let's let's not do this anymore there were a lot of writers and people in the National media that did a lot of pearl clutching for 24 to 48 hours and talked about how this specifically is now what is wrong with college football and it's just another example of how the game's changing and another great rivalry is coming to an end the iron skillet one that everyone loves and I think it's a cool game but they're putting it on the CW and I realize that's a big part of that's because of the acc's TV contracts and because of SMU but still it was just very disingenuous people by and large are not crying and lamenting of the loss of this game and so we don't have to pretend like yeah it's it's kind of silly and weird that they're not going to play each other anymore but we don't have to pretend like it's just this huge horrible thing that TCU did they saw an opportunity to get out of a what's been mainly a one-sided matchup and they did that and also people have pointed outc is going to Dallas again this year which is something they've done every other year for decades now uh smu's facilities not topnotch right and that's a that's gonna be a toasty afternoon in late September at 3 pm it's gonna be hot you have to stay hydrated um but yeah frogs and ponies on the CW September 21st at 3 pm and that's a big game man I mean as much as I'm joking around about it like I I feel like we're going to learn a ton about this team you know those three big games that kind of come up immediately in the schedule Stanford then you get long Island but then SMU or excuse me UCF and SMU back to back those are some athletic football teams you'll be playing with Dynamic offenses which will be a big test for this new defense but also can the offense go score for score at times and is TCU physical enough Tough Enough big enough to win games like that early in the season when they're probably not firing on all the cylinders but finding a way to get some Victory so that they can pad some wins going into conference play it'll be fascinating to watch TCU 3M on the CW on September 21st we'll come back get some of your reactions uh to yesterday's show it's lock down or frogs your team every day thank you for making lock on horn frogs your first listen if you're looking for something to listen to after this make lockon college football your second Liston of the day Spencer MC Lin's the host to get you ready for an exciting season on the grid iron with discussion on the upcoming season the changing landscape of College athletics including conference alignment transfer portal nil new college football expanded playoffs and more lock on college football it's available on YouTube wherever you get your podcast part of the lock on podcast Network your team every day yesterday I talked about some players and I was specifically mentioning transfers from a couple offseasons ago that could have bounce back years this upcoming season because one good thing about bringing in guys like dalen Wright um JoJo Earl and others Trey Sanders they had more than one year of Eligibility so even though it didn't all come together and coales like TC would have hoped last season for some of those guys they're gonna get another chance to play and play at a high level this upcoming year and denen rght I know he's made some big strides in Camp he's your prototypical big outside wide receiver can he crack rotation whether it's as a starter in the place of Eric McCallister or somebody who can rotate in and out with Eric mallister and Savon Williams and be a force this upcoming season is this the year where it finally kind of comes together for him and we see a lot of that potential that we've been talking about whether it was in Minnesota or last year at TCU I mean he scored some touchdowns he was a factor when he got involved it was just injuries and other things kept him off the field at times and the best ability is availability in some ways so that's got to get sorted out uh Matt Clark said one bounceback you didn't mention but it seems like we count on heavily as Tom Mitchell based on the Press I've seen he's starting over Marcus deal uh timman had serviceable years in 2022 and 2023 but he always played in the shadow of Dominick Williams the heart of any good defense is the ability to stop the run yes it is and uh Mitchell will be third season playing for TCU yeah he's gon have to stip up he's gonna have to be someone who gets a surge at the point of attack who is helpful and these linebackers and you're totally right even if you're going to be a team that's aggressive and that's bringing pressure from different angles you still like that doesn't matter if you can't stand your ground and not get blown off the ball you have to reestablish line of scrimmage create negative plays clog up running lanes and not allow daylight for these opposing running backs so there's a lot of responsibility on his shoulders this upcoming season Jacob Langford said hoping for a JoJo bounceback especially if he can be the r returner like our long lineage of returners yeah if he's a factor on special teams that'd be a huge boost I know he didn't he never really seemed comfortable returning punts last year don't have a great explanation for that but he was a good special teams player to Alabama so you think that would translate and they've got a few guys I mean Jordan Bailey potentially to Major everheart like there's multiple play players on this team who could fit that role but you have to find somebody who can do it at a high level and if you do and if you can flip the field at times uh give your offense a good field position I guess should say that's a big deal Zoom play says Josh Hoover will light up the conference I love it I love the confidence I love the enthusiasm um I think Josh Hoover possesses a lot of the intangible qualities that you want from your quarterback and I feel like he showed flashes last year of greatness it's just about finding that consistency and getting better week to week that's gonna be the challenge for him and really the whole TCU football team but um yes I'm ready to watch him play this year for sure we'll be back tomorrow it's lockdown horn frogs your team every day