Frogs Announce 2011-12 Hoops Schedule
8/23/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Aug. 23, 2011
2011-12 TCU MEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE 
FORT WORTH--The TCU men's basketball program announced Tuesday a 2011-12 schedule that will include more than half of the games against opponents who advanced to postseason play last spring. The Horned Frogs are entering their final season in the Mountain West Conference before joining the Big East in 2012-13.
Depending on tournament play, TCU could possibly have at least one game against an opponent from seven of the top-eight rated conferences in the final 2010-11 RPI rankings: the Big East (Marquette in the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam), Big Ten (Nebraska), Big 12 (Texas Tech), Mountain West (seven opponents; 14 games), ACC (Virginia in the Paradise Jam), SEC (Ole Miss in the Paradise Jam), Pac-12 (USC) and Conference USA (Houston, Rice, SMU and Tulsa). The Frogs, which have never had the opportunity to face teams from as many different quality leagues in one season, are the only MWC team with such a chance this year.
In all, at least 16 of TCU's 30 games will be against squads that reached the 2011 postseason. Four possible opponents qualified for the NCAA Tournament (Marquette, San Diego State, UNLV and USC), four for the National Invitational Tournament (Colorado State, Nebraska, New Mexico and Ole Miss), two for the CBI Tournament (Boise State and Evansville) and two others for the CollegeInsiders.com Tournament (Air Force and SMU).
At least 17 of the Frogs' regular-season contests will be televised, as well as each game of the Conoco Mountain West Conference Championship. The MountainWest Sports Network (The Mtn.) will carry 15 telecasts, including each of the 14 MWC contests, while two other games will air on CBS Sports Network.
A challenging non-conference schedule featuring nine home games awaits the Frogs in head coach Jim Christian's fourth season at TCU. Highlighting the lineup at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum are consecutive early December games against Texas Tech (Dec. 6) and Nebraska (Dec. 10).
The Frogs will be looking for back-to-back victories against the former conference rival Red Raiders following an 81-77 win last season in Lubbock, Texas. This season's matchup, which will be televised by CBS Sports, will mark the 11th consecutive year that TCU and Tech have met on the hardwood.
Nebraska, which earned a spot in last season's NIT field, will travel to Fort Worth for the second time in four years. Now a member of the Big Ten, Nebraska will be only the third Big Ten opponent for the Frogs since the 1996-97 season (at Indiana in 2008, vs. Minnesota in 2000). NU, which is on the Frogs' schedule for the fourth consecutive year overall, will be the first Big Ten team to visit the DMC since Purdue on Dec. 30, 1996. The game will be televised live by The Mtn.
TCU opens the season Nov. 11 at the DMC with a home matchup against Florida Gulf Coast, followed by another home contest Nov. 14 against Austin College. In addition to the home tussles against in-state foes Texas Tech and Austin College, three other Lone Star State opponents will also play at the DMC this season: Lamar (Nov. 30), Rice (Jan. 4) and UT Pan American (Jan. 11).
Following a home date with Grambling (Dec. 22), the Frogs will round out their home non-conference schedule with a game against Tulsa (Dec. 31), which is scheduled to be televised by CBS Sports. The Golden Hurricane tied for second in Conference USA last season while posting a 19-13 overall record.
The Frogs face a challenging set of non-conference road games that includes a Dec. 19 trek to Los Angeles, Calif., to face USC, which qualified for the NCAA Tournament last season. TCU will look to duplicate one of its biggest wins from 2010-11, when it posted an 81-69 home victory over the Trojans in late November.
Two other postseason qualifiers in Evansville (Dec. 3) and SMU (Feb. 8) also dot TCU's road schedule. Evansville, which reached the quarterfinals of the CBI bracket, will play host to the Frogs as part of the eight-game Mountain West/Missouri Valley Challenge, while the Frogs will travel to Dallas in early February for their annual cross-town duel with the Metroplex-rival Mustangs, who played in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament last spring.
A Nov. 26 Thanksgiving weekend matchup at Houston rounds out TCU's non-conference road slate.
In addition to the four true road contests, a three-game trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam awaits the Frogs Nov. 18-21. TCU will face Virginia in the opening round Nov. 18 before playing either Drexel or Norfolk State on Nov. 19 or 20. Potential Game 3 opponents for Nov. 21 include Marquette, a reigning NCAA Tournament qualifier, Ole Miss, which reached the NIT last season, Drake and Winthrop.
TCU's final season in the Mountain West Conference brings a new scheduling setup in addition to one fresh opponent. Former league rivals BYU and Utah are gone and have been replaced by Boise State, reducing the number of regular-season contests from 16 to 14.
Six of TCU's seven MWC opponents (12 games) played in the postseason a year ago, highlighted by reigning conference champion San Diego State, which made a run to the Sweet 16 while posting a 34-3 overall record. UNLV, 24-9 on the year, also reached NCAA play. MWC teams appeared in all four 2010-11 national postseason tournaments.
The annual Conoco Mountain West Conference Championship returns to the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nev., March 8-10.
| 2011-12 TCU MEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE | |||
| DATE | OPPONENT | SITE | TIME (TV) |
| Nov. 11 | Florida Gulf Coast | Fort Worth, Texas | 7 p.m. |
| Nov. 14 | Austin College | Fort Worth, Texas | 8 p.m. |
| Nov. 18 | vs. Virginia # | St. Thomas, U.S.V.I. | TBA |
| Nov. 19 or 20 | vs. Drexel or Norfolk State # | St. Thomas, U.S.V.I. | TBA |
| Nov. 21 | vs. TBA # | St. Thomas, U.S.V.I. | TBA |
| Nov. 26 | at Houston | Houston, Texas | TBA |
| Nov. 30 | Lamar | Fort Worth, Texas | 7 p.m. |
| Dec. 3 | at Evansville ! | Evansville, Ind. | TBA |
| Dec. 6 | Texas Tech | Fort Worth, Texas | TBA (CBSSN) |
| Dec. 10 | Nebraska | Fort Worth, Texas | 7 p.m. (The Mtn.) |
| Dec. 19 | at USC | Los Angeles, Calif. | TBA |
| Dec. 22 | Grambling State | Fort Worth, Texas | 7 p.m. |
| Dec. 31 | Tulsa | Fort Worth, Texas | TBA (CBSSN) |
| Jan. 4 | Rice | Fort Worth, Texas | 7 p.m. |
| Jan. 11 | UT Pan American | Fort Worth, Texas | 7 p.m. |
| Jan. 14 | at Colorado State | Fort Collins, Colo. | 8 p.m. (The Mtn.) |
| Jan. 18 | at UNLV | Las Vegas, Nev. | 9:30 p.m. (The Mtn.) |
| Jan. 21 | Boise State | Fort Worth, Texas | 2:30 p.m. (The Mtn.) |
| Jan. 25 | Air Force | Fort Worth, Texas | 6:30 p.m. (The Mtn.) |
| Jan. 28 | at New Mexico | Albuquerque, N.M. | 5 p.m. (The Mtn.) |
| Feb. 1 | Wyoming | Fort Worth, Texas | 7 p.m. (The Mtn.) |
| Feb. 4 | at San Diego State | San Diego, Calif. | 9 p.m. (The Mtn.) |
| Feb. 8 | at SMU | Dallas, Texas | TBA |
| Feb. 11 | Colorado State | Fort Worth, Texas | 7:30 p.m. (The Mtn.) |
| Feb. 14 | UNLV | Fort Worth, Texas | 6:30 p.m. (The Mtn.) |
| Feb. 18 | at Boise State | Boise, Idaho | 3 p.m. (The Mtn.) |
| Feb. 22 | at Air Force | USAFA, Colo. | 7 p.m. (The Mtn.) |
| Feb. 25 | New Mexico | Fort Worth, Texas | 6 p.m. (The Mtn.) |
| Feb. 28 | at Wyoming | Laramie, Wyo. | 8:30 p.m. (The Mtn.) |
| March 3 | San Diego State | Fort Worth, Texas | 6 p.m. (The Mtn.) |
| March 8-10 | MWC Championship | Las Vegas, Nev. | TBA (The Mtn./CBSSN/NBCSN) |
All Times Central
# - Paradise Jam (Game 3 vs. Drake, Marquette, Ole Miss or Winthrop)
! - MWC-MVC Challenge
* - Mountain West Conference Game
