Big 12 Announces Revised Conference Soccer Schedule

 

The Big 12 Conference has announced its revised soccer schedule for the 2020 campaign.

Each team is scheduled to play nine league matches, beginning on September 11 and concluding on November 6. Teams are not permitted to play non-conference opponents this fall.

Earlier this summer, Texas Tech was voted as the preseason favorite to win the Conference. Oklahoma State, TCU, West Virginia and Texas rounded out the top-five, followed by Kansas, Baylor, Oklahoma, Iowa State and K-State.

Here is the schedule:

Friday, September 11
TCU at Baylor
West Virginia at Iowa State
Texas Tech at K-State
Oklahoma State at Oklahoma
Kansas at Texas

Friday, September 18
Oklahoma at Kansas
Iowa State at Oklahoma State
Texas at TCU
Baylor at Texas Tech
K-State at West Virginia

Friday, September 25
Baylor at Iowa State
Texas Tech at Kansas
TCU at K-State
West Virginia at Oklahoma State
Oklahoma at Texas

Friday, October 2
Oklahoma State at Baylor
Kansas at K-State
Texas Tech at Oklahoma
Iowa State at TCU
Texas at West Virginia

Friday, October 9
Kansas at Baylor
Iowa State at Oklahoma
TCU at Oklahoma State
K-State at Texas
West Virginia at Texas Tech
 
Friday, October 16
Texas at Iowa State
Oklahoma State at Kansas
Oklahoma at K-State
Texas Tech at TCU
Baylor at West Virginia

Friday, October 23
K-State at Baylor
TCU at Kansas
West Virginia at Oklahoma
Texas at Oklahoma State
Iowa State at Texas Tech

Friday, October 30
Baylor at Texas
K-State at Iowa State
TCU at Oklahoma
Texas Tech at Oklahoma State
Kansas at West Virginia

Friday, November 6
Oklahoma at Baylor
Iowa State at Kansas
Oklahoma State at K-State
West Virginia at TCU
Texas at Texas Tech  

2020 Associated Press Preseason Football Top 25 Poll Includes Four Big 12 Teams

The 2020 Associated Press Preseason Football Top 25 poll includes four Big 12 teams: Oklahoma (#5), Texas (#14), Oklahoma State (#15) and Iowa State (#23). TCU was among "other teams receiving votes."

This season's 85th edition of the AP rankings will be like none before.

When the season starts -- if the season starts -- the Buckeyes and 53 other Bowl Subdivision teams will no longer be eligible for inclusion in the Top 25 because they have postponed their seasons until the spring.

All Division I teams were eligible for the preseason AP Top 25, but after the season starts, only teams scheduled to play in the fall are eligible. That leaves 76 FBS teams from which to choose.

Access the preseason poll: here

 

The Associated Press began its college football poll on October 19, 1936. It is the longest-running poll of those that award national titles at the end of the season. The preseason poll was started in 1950. A panel of 60 sports writers and broadcasters from around the country votes on the poll weekly. The AP Top 25 is determined by a simple points system based on how each voter ranks the teams. A team receives 25 points for each first- place vote, 24 for second place and so on through to the 25th team, which receives one point. The rankings are set by listing the point totals from highest to lowest. 

Here is the 2020 Preseason AP College Football Top 25 poll (first-place votes in parenthesis):

 

1) Clemson (38)
2) Ohio State (21)
3) Alabama (2)

4) Georgia

5) Oklahoma (2)

6) LSU (1)

7) Penn State

8) Florida

9) Oregon

10) Notre Dame

11) Auburn

12) Wisconsin

13) Texas A&M

14) Texas

15) Oklahoma State

16) Michigan

17) USC

18) North Carolina

19) Minnesota

20) Cincinnati

21) UCF

22) Utah

23) Iowa State

24) Iowa

25) Tennessee

Others receiving votes: Memphis 86, Virginia Tech 85, Boise State 68, Arizona State 66, Miami 42, Louisville 32, Appalachian State 26, Washington 21, Kentucky 20, Indiana 19, Baylor 15, California 11, TCU 9, Virginia 7, Navy 6, Florida State 6, SMU 3, Mississippi State 3, Air Force 3, Northwestern 1, UAB 1

 

 

NCAA Approves Blanket Waiver for Fall Sports Athletes

 

Heart Abnormality Jeopardizes 2020 Season for TCU's Duggan

Max Duggan passes against Baylor during the 2019 season.

TCU head football coach Gary Patterson recently announced that a medical condition that Horned Frogs quarterback Max Duggan was born with likely will cause him to miss several games and possibly the entire 2020 season.

“Max has a condition that he’s had his whole life and we caught it," said Patterson. "Right now, he’s in a good place and hopefully he’ll be getting back some time during the season."

A few days after Patterson's announcement, Duggan's father, Jim Duggan, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that through an EKG (electrocardiogram), had discovered a heart abnormality on his son. Jim Duggan confirmed that Max likely had the condition his entire life and it was not COVID-19 related. 

On Twitter, Max said, "I appreciate all the support I've received this week. Thanks to the precautionary COVID-19 testing, I learned about a heart condition that I've had since birth. I've already had the necessary procedure and am on the road to recovery. Thanks for the thoughts and prayers. Go Frogs!"

Other quarterbacks on TCU's roster are: Georgia transfer Matthew Downing; JUCO recruit Stephon Brown; three-star freshman recruit Eli Williams of Sapulpa, Oklahoma; freshman Christian Gelov of Noblesville, Indiana; sophomore Carter Bir of Flower Mound; and sophomore Jake Neufeld of San Diego, California.  

Downing, a redshirt sophomore, has been considered the No. 2 quarterback heading into the season. He didn’t see action for the Frogs in 2019. 

The 6-foot-5 Brown arrived at TCU as the No. 1 rated JUCO dual-threat quarterback in the 2020 recruiting class. He has two years of experience.

Williams suffered an injury midway through his senior season in high school, but arrived at TCU as the No. 24 dual-threat recruit in the country.

NCAA Cancels Championships for Fall Sports; FBS Football Championship May Be Possible

 

The NCAA has announced that there will be no NCAA championships in fall sports this year, with FBS football being the only possible exception, since it does not come under the jurisdiction of the NCAA.

“We cannot now, at this point, have fall NCAA championships because there’s not enough schools participating,” said NCAA President Mark Emmert. “The Board of Governors also said if you don’t have half the schools playing the sport, you can’t have a legitimate championship. We can’t, in any NCAA Division-I championship sport now, which is everything other than FBS football, that goes on in the fall. Sadly and tragically, that’s going to be the case this fall. Full stop.”

There is the possibility of moving the fall sports, and their championships, to the spring. However, the priority for the NCAA will be making sure that winter and spring sports get to finish their seasons, since that didn’t happen this past year.

“We have to give highest priority to the winter and spring sports because they lost their championship last March,” Emmert said. “We made that horrible, awful, but necessary choice to shut down. Didn’t have Frozen Four. Didn’t have Final Four. Didn’t have World Series in softball and baseball. Track championships. Lacrosse. We lost all of that.”

 

 

 

TCU Reveals Details for 2020 Football Season

 

Despite the coronavirus pandemic and numerous universities and athletic conferences, including the Big 10 Conference and the Pac-12 Conference, the Big 12 and its 10 teams, including Texas Christian University, are moving forward with a fall sports schedule that includes playing football.

In fact, revised football schedules for TCU and the nine other conference teams have been published.

TCU’s 2020 football schedule is here.

The Big 12 Conference football schedule is here.

“Our student-athletes want to compete, and it is the board’s collective opinion that sports can be conducted safely and in concert with the best interests of their well-being,” said TCU Chancellor Victor Boschini, who is the Big 12 Board of Directors Chairman. “We remain vigilant in monitoring the trends and effects of COVID 19 as we learn more about the virus. If at any point our scientists and doctors conclude that our institutions cannot provide a safe and appropriate environment for our participants, we will change course.”

Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby said he is confident in the conference’s protocols and ability to keep athletes safe.

“The virus continues to evolve and medical professionals are learning more with each passing week,” Bowlsby said. “Opinions vary regarding the best path forward, as we’ve seen throughout higher education and our society overall, but we are comfortable in our institutions’ ability to provide a structured training environment, rigorous testing and surveillance, hospital quality sanitation and mitigation practices that optimize the health and safety of our student-athletes.”

TCU Director of Intercollegiate Athletics thanked TCU supporters for their loyalty and patience during these unusual times.

“As the COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc in our communities over the past five months, we have been in a continual state of change and are adapting to our new circumstances almost daily,” explained Donati. “The one constant is that the health and safety of our student-athletes, staff, fans, and community continue to be, and will always be, our top priority.

“Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have consulted with numerous local, state and national medical experts to assist us in navigating our return to campus this fall and our return to competitive sports. As you know, there are a number of new health and safety protocols in our everyday lives that we must all adhere to in order to minimize the risk of exposure and spread of the virus.  These protocols will have an impact on our TCU Football Game Day experience and much of what we are used to will temporarily look different for the 2020 season.”

Among the changes at TCU for this season:

• Due to social distancing guidelines, Amon G. Carter Stadium’s capacity limit will be approximately 12,000 fans.  
• Tailgating and the gathering of large crowds in the parking lots will be prohibited on campus.

Other adjustments for the 2020 season are outlined here.

Dontai said that for the 2020 season, all season ticket holders have these options:

• Select temporary seats for the 2020 season.
• Opt out for this year and use your payment as a credit and have the opportunity to renew your pre-pandemic seat locations next year.
• Convert your season ticket purchase into a donation to the newly established Frog Club Purple and White Fund that is eligible for a tax deduction and will receive double Horned Frog Priority Points (6 points per $100).
• Receive a full refund. 

Additional information is here.

TCU will open its season in Fort Worth against SMU on September 12.

The Frogs’ next game will be their conference-opener, against Iowa State, in Fort Worth, on September 26.

The rest of the schedule is:

October 3, at Texas
October 10, vs. Kansas State
October 24, vs. Oklahoma
October 31, at Baylor
November 7, vs. Texas Tech
November 14, at West Virginia
November 28, at Kansas
December 5, vs Oklahoma State
December 12/19: Big 12 Conference Championship Game

At this time, based on health and safety recommendations from state and local authorities TCU will have a maximum capacity of 12,000 for home football games. In an effort to accommodate as many season- ticket accounts as possible, Donati said a seat-selection process will be held, starting August 24. These are the details:

• Similar to the normal upgrade process, each season-ticket account, based on priority rank within the Horned Frogs Priority Points System, will be assigned a selection date and time to log into their online account and select the seats they want for the 2020 season. Essentially this is a re-seating plan for the 2020 season only.
• The maximum number of tickets allowed per season ticket account will be four (4).
• This process will only affect the 2020 season and all accounts will be given the opportunity to renew their pre-existing seats for the 2021 season. 
• Fans who wish to opt-out of the 2020 season may do so by contacting the ticket office at 817-257-3764 or tickets@tcu.edu.
• Season-ticket accounts that elect to opt-out will automatically have their previous payments applied as a credit toward their 2021 renewal. 
• Requests to have previous payments converted into a donation to the newly established Frog Club Purple & White Fund, which is eligible for a tax deduction and will receive double Horned Frog Priority Points (6 points per $100), should be directed to the Frog Club (817.257.7700 or frogclub@tcu.edu). 
• To request a refund to your season ticket account, email the ticket office (tickets@tcu.edu).

Here are measures TCU is taking to ensure a safe environment at Amon G. Carter Stadium:

• Mobile ticketing solutions for contactless entry will be implemented
• Face coverings will be required to be worn by everyone in attendance
• Staggered entrance times and gates to reduce clustering will be on your mobile ticket
• Social distancing markers at gates, concessions, and restrooms will be put in place
• Hand sanitization stations will be located throughout the stadium
• Elevators will operate under state mandates of no more than 4 passengers and an operator
• Cashless concessions and merchandise transactions will be in place
• Multiple clean teams will continually clean common areas during the event
• Staff will be screened prior to entering the facility

Of course, despite the Big 12 Conference and TCU moving ahead with plans for a fall sports season, the environment remains fluid and uncertain because of the pandemic. Changes, and even cancellations, can be forthcoming at any time.