TCU does it yet again, and is the only team from Texas with any shot at the playoffs

TCU finished one of its more memorable, and expensive, weeks in its 150 year history that included an appearance by Ke$ha, Ludacris, the return of the Flying T logo, homecoming, and Taylor Swift’s Midnights.

TayTay technically did not do anything TCU related, but it just feels like whatever she did this week permeated every conversation on earth.

On Tuesday, Ke$ha performed on campus for the students; on Friday night, Ludacris performed as part of the start to basketball season; both served as warmup acts for No. 8 TCU’s football game against No. 17 Kansas State.

Those respective shows were reportedly quite entertaining, but, for sheer entertainment, it’s hard to beat a TCU football game these days. These games have everything.

For the second time in as many weeks, TCU fell behind by double digits to a ranked team only to come back and keep its record clean.

TCU defeated Kansas State 38-28 on Saturday night at Amon G. Carter Stadium. The Horned Frogs are 7-0 overall, and 4-0 in the Big 12.

They won their fourth consecutive game against a ranked opponent, including both Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.

We probably (definitely?) know how this will end, but you may as well go ahead and talk about it. It’s Oct. 22, and TCU is the only team in Texas with a shot to make the College Football Playoffs.

At this point, TCU head coach Sonny Dykes knows his team is a focal point of college football. A point he said he will have to address.

“You have to,” he said after the game. “Every team is different. Teams I’ve coached in the past got off to a fast start, and you can see guys feel good about themselves. And lose focus. I don’t think this team is like that.

“I’ve been waiting to hear talk about this or that, or conference standings or bowl games, and I’ve never heard that with this group. Not once. That sounds absurd.”

He’s right. It does sound absurd. They’re in college.

TCU is still the only remaining chance for a Texas team to finally make the college football playoffs, something we have yet to see.

Baylor lost too much talent from its Big 12 championship team last season to pose as a threat.

Texas A&M continues to Texas A&M, and put the face on “over-hyped, under delivering disappointment.” The Aggies are 3-4, but their head coach is incredibly rich.

Texas under second-year coach Steve Sarkisian looks better than it has under the two previous regimes, led by Charlie Strong and Tom Herman, but the results still looks frighteningly familiar.

Houston and Texas Tech aren’t a part of this discussion this season.

That leaves TCU, a team that has not played in a bowl game since the Netflix-documentary worthy 2018 Cheez-It-Bowl.

TCU has five games remaining, and it’s doubtful that any of its remaining opponents will be ranked in the next AP Top 25 poll.

Although, one of those teams is No. 20 Texas.

The Longhorns lost on Saturday at Oklahoma State. Because it’s Texas, the Horns could just as easily move up 10 spots to join the top 10 as they could fall out of the Top 25.

TCU should be the favorite in all of its remaining games, with the possible exception of its game at UT on Nov. 12.

Even if TCU does not win out, it’s perfectly positioned to at least reach the Big 12 title game on Dec. 3 in Arlington. That would be the second time in its history it reached that game.

If you’re in the conference title game, you are in the conversation for the playoffs, and the New Year’s Six Bowls.

The first college football playoff ranking will be announced Tuesday, Nov. 1 and if any school can attest to how little these rankings mean until the last one it’s TCU.

Juuuuuuuust in case you forgot, in 2014 TCU was positioned to reach the first ever college football playoff until the selection committee remembered the name on the front of the jersey runs this sport.

TCU was not included in the playoffs. The Frogs finished 12-1 that season, and remains the example of what can go terribly wrong even if you do just about everything right in the playoff era.

One of the reasons the Big 12 said it created the conference title game was specifically because of that TCU team; that the conference wanted an “extra data point” to help sway the selection committee.

Also, coincidentally, the Big 12 title game generates a lot of money.

TCU is in this position because of games like Saturday night.

For the second time in as many weeks, TCU fell behind big in the first half and put itself in a terrible position of nearly needing to play perfect to win.

Last week, TCU trailed 24-7 against Oklahoma State before rallying to win in double overtime.

Against Kansas State, TCU trailed 28-10 late in the second quarter.

“Like last week, a little tight in the first half. We have to not do that. We have to play free,” Dykes said. “There’s no sense of panic, and that gives you a chance.”

In its 150th year as a university, TCU has a chance to make the college football playoffs.

We probably (definitely?) know how this will end, but you may as well go ahead and talk about it.