TCU turns down offer to open '11 at Wisconsin

[JLEW1818]

Is a Rose Bowl rematch brewing between Wisconsin and TCU for the 2011 season opener?

It's not going to happen, but both schools were contacted about the idea.

Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema said on a Madison, Wis., sports radio station Wednesday that he was approached about playing host to TCU on Sept. 3.

"I was contacted probably a week, maybe a week- and-a-half after the bowl game about the opportunity to play TCU in our opener," Bielema told the show. "It was something that was going to be broadcast and made a big deal. It took me all of about point-five seconds to say, 'Yes.'"

TCU defeated Wisconsin, 21-19, in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day, vaulting the undefeated Horned Frogs to a No. 2 final ranking in the AP and USA Today top 25 polls.

"I would definitely love the challenge to play them again," Bielema said on the show. "And really, I thought it would be a great sell with our folks. Unfortunately, TCU wasn't as excited about the matchup."

TCU athletic director Chris Del Conte on Wednesday confirmed that a third party approached him about playing the Sept. 3 season opener at Wisconsin's Camp Randall Stadium. Del Conte also confirmed that he declined the offer.

However, he said his lack of interest in the game had little to do with a lack of excitement at the prospect of playing the Badgers again, but rather that the one-time meeting would not produce a return game in Fort Worth.

"We already have Baylor for our opening game," Del Conte said. "A team supposedly Wisconsin played last year doesn't want to go back there. A third party was shopping the game around to other teams. I have no interest in playing a one-[time] game."

A source said UNLV, which played host to Wisconsin for the 2010 season opener, wants out of its scheduled game at Wisconsin on Sept. 3.

Del Conte said plans for a potential home-and-home series were never discussed.

"It was a very quick conversation with a third party," Del Conte said. "I want to be clear: I never spoke to the Wisconsin athletic director or football coach."

Now, had Ohio State -- whose president E. Gordon Gee now famously chided non-BCS conference teams like TCU as playing league schedules littered with the Little Sisters of the Poor -- been the Big Ten team seeking a late schedule change, Del Conte said he would have been all ears.

"Oh yeah," he said, "of course."


http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/ncf/news/story?id=6106632

[sooneron]

I won't believe a word of this til you post a pic of your tweet.

[Collier11]

Nothing to gain by playing this game again

[JLEW1818]

Well then don't complain about not playing in the title game

[Collier11]

Why the hell would they play a team they just beat in the Rose Bowl? They have consistently played a pretty good schedule, they are no Boise

[sooneron]

Makes no sense for them to go to Madison this soon...

[oudavid1]

Makes no sense for them to go to Madison this soon...

i wont believe a word of this until you post a pic of your tweet.

[JLEW1818]

Gotta take the games u can get, and hope to win them all... And only hope for only 1 undefeated team

[oudavid1]

Does anyone know who the next QB is gonna be at TCU?

Thats why they didnt take the deal. They know that they are not going undefeated. Or at least the would bet on it. And so would i.

[JLEW1818]

Agree

[EatLeadCommie]

TCU will be slightly above average next year.

[Leroy Lizard]

Agree

Never heard of him.

[yermom]

TCU likely has to go to Boise already and after this year will be playing in a BCS conference and having to play a lot of tough games pretty far away

i can see why they wouldn't take this

it would be different if they were offering a home and home series

[texaspokieokie]

would be different if it were home & home.

[sooner518]

Does anyone know who the next QB is gonna be at TCU?

Thats why they didnt take the deal. They know that they are not going undefeated. Or at least the would bet on it. And so would i.

some guy named Casey Pachall. He'll be a redshirt sophomore next year.

I imagine TCU will be good next year, but they'd have a hard time beating Wisky at Camp Randall. If I were the TCU AD, I wouldnt take this either.

[picasso]

Where is TCU located? They may have had travel/money issues getting to Wisconsin.

[SoonerBacker]

Where is TCU located? They may have had travel/money issues getting to Wisconsin.

Fort Worth

[Soonermagik]

Why would TCU go play on their home turf and not get a return game? TCU did the right thing!!

Heck, how many really good teams would agree to play at owen field and wouldn't get a return game? OU understands this and does home and home series.

[yermom]

Where is TCU located? They may have had travel/money issues getting to Wisconsin.


gotta be easier than say, Hartford

[swardboy]

Where do I get a job being a "third party" shopping games around? Sounds like a good gig. Just give me 10% of whatever the visiting team gets paid.

[picasso]

Fort Worth

Ohhhh, they are one of those Christian schools in the Dallas metroplex right? I know there are some golfing icons from that area.

[rekamrettuB]

Never heard of him.

You never heard of Terrance Agree? He's a 2.6 star out of Wharton, TX.

[XingTheRubicon]

I noticed your ruse, Pic.

Nicely done

[sooneron]

Why would TCU go play on their home turf and not get a return game? TCU did the right thing!!

Heck, how many really good teams would agree to play at owen field and wouldn't get a return game? OU understands this and does home and home series.

???

How many games has tcu played at OU since the last time we traveled to FW? That is not the reason.

[fwsooner22]

TCU has more money than they know what to do with. Drive thru campus to get to my office everyday. There is always a construction project.

Maybe the one and done isn't fair to TCU but they are TCU and they can no longer complain about scheduling. They really haven't done enough to warrant passing on big time games. Besides how often are they on TV and NO the Mountain Channel doesn't count

[Jacie]

It was a nothing-to-win-everything-to-lose situation for horny toads. They already beat bucky so there is nothing to prove there. That they lose a lot of the stars off the team that won the Rose Bowl is another huge disincentive. Now if bucky really wants a rematch, they should be negotiating to travel to Fort Worth and beat em in their own backyard . . .

[badger]

It doesn't sound like Wisconsin asked for this (not that they didn't want it - rematch at your own house? SCORE!) and of course TCU didn't ask for it either. It sounds like a third party was trying to stick its nose in college football.

They should have looked for a neutral site, like Jerryworld or maybe that Indy dome that will host the Big Ten championship game.

[texaspokieokie]

i wouldn't consider jerry world a neutral site for tcu.

[sooner94]

Does anyone know who the next QB is gonna be at TCU?

Thats why they didnt take the deal. They know that they are not going undefeated. Or at least the would bet on it. And so would i.

They got a kid from Allen, Texas last year that I thought was a really good QB. His name is Matt Brown. He was going to Arizona but then the OC left and he changed to TCU. Really good feet and is very accurate throwing the ball. Not your 6-4 220 NFL type, but I think he's 6-1 180, or was as a HS senior. I think this kid will be a really good college QB.

[FroggyStyle22]

The QB job will be between Casey Pachall and Matt Brown. Pachall has thrown about 13 college passes and Brown will be a RS Frosh so neither has much experience.

As for the game. We already have an opponent for that date and if we backed out of the Baylor game we would essentially be doing the same thing to Baylor that gutless Tech did to us (canceling a game with little notice to reschedule someone else). Plus Baylor is the one old SWC team that has made home and home arrangements with us and actually lived up to the agreement. Not saying this is the only reason for not playing a one and done at Camp Randall, but it is a small part.

The other side is that we do replace a lot of seniors from the Rose Bowl team and don't have much to gain from going up there with no return visit. Besides, since when does the loser of a championship bout get to dictate the terms of a rematch?

As for traveling to OU multiple times without a return visit, we have gone twice since your last visit here. The first was the back end of a home and home. The last time was the front end of a home and home.

[sooner518]

???

How many games has tcu played at OU since the last time we traveled to FW? That is not the reason.

2. they came to Norman in 2005 and 2008. we went there in 1998. and we play them in 2012 in Fort Worth.....

[CobraKai]

As long as TCU doesn't complain later in the year about not getting a shot at a title, I have no problem with it. If you choose an easy schedule, more power to you. If you later pull a 2004 Auburn and complain that your SOS kept you out of the title game, don't expect any sympathy from me.

Also, TCU cannot expect a home and home offer from a major school. At best they can offer a 2 for 1. As good as TCU has been, they still only put 40,000 or so in the stands at home.

[swardboy]

TCU's new conference opponents are going to be shocked when they see how few butts are in the seats at Ft. Worth.

[sooneron]

As long as TCU doesn't complain later in the year about not getting a shot at a title, I have no problem with it. If you choose an easy schedule, more power to you. If you later pull a 2004 Auburn and complain that your SOS kept you out of the title game, don't expect any sympathy from me.

Also, TCU cannot expect a home and home offer from a major school. At best they can offer a 2 for 1. As good as TCU has been, they still only put 40,000 or so in the stands at home.

This^

[lmg0088]

As long as TCU doesn't complain later in the year about not getting a shot at a title, I have no problem with it. If you choose an easy schedule, more power to you. If you later pull a 2004 Auburn and complain that your SOS kept you out of the title game, don't expect any sympathy from me.

Also, TCU cannot expect a home and home offer from a major school. At best they can offer a 2 for 1. As good as TCU has been, they still only put 40,000 or so in the stands at home.


2. they came to Norman in 2005 and 2008. we went there in 1998. and we play them in 2012 in Fort Worth.....

Except OU I guess:rolleyes:

[Jacie]

TCU's new conference opponents are going to be shocked when they see how few butts are in the seats at Ft. Worth.

I don't know about that, I think it will be par for the course for Big East football . . .

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigeast/post/_/id/17218/looking-at-big-east-attendance-in-2010

[FroggyStyle22]

Let put the attendance talk into perspective. TCU has about 70,000 living alumni, 20,000 of which live in the metroplex. Combine that with about 8,500 undergrads. If EVERY alum in the metroplex and EVERY student on campus came to the games, we would have less than 30,000 butts in the seats.

Then add in for the last few years visiting fans have had to come over 1,000 miles for road games, I would say our attendance numbers aren't to bad. It's not the teams fault that non-alums in the metroplex don't want to come out to see a top 25 team.

[Mad Dog Madsen]

i wont believe a word of this until you post a pic of your tweet.

[Soonermagik]

???

How many games has tcu played at OU since the last time we traveled to FW? That is not the reason.

TCU wasn't near as good as then. Hence, they weren't winning rose bowls. Their AD said he wouldn't mind playing them again, but would want a return game. Did you read the article?:confused: Read the article:

TCU athletic director Chris Del Conte on Wednesday confirmed that a third party approached him about playing the Sept. 3 season opener at Wisconsin's Camp Randall Stadium. Del Conte also confirmed that he declined the offer.

However, he said his lack of interest in the game had little to do with a lack of excitement at the prospect of playing the Badgers again, but rather that the one-time meeting would not produce a return game in Fort Worth

[rekamrettuB]

Except OU I guess:rolleyes:

I'm just guessing here but I imagine the '98 game had nothing to do w/ the 2005 and beyond games. So either there is a 2 for 1 and this is the end or they signed a 2 for 2 and about 14 years apart.

[yermom]

they came and beat us in '96 as well

[rekamrettuB]

they came and beat us in '96 as well

Exactly. People are snapshotting their argument. I think '93 or '94 OU went to Ft Worth too. So there was a 2 for 1 the other way in the 90s.

[picasso]

they came and beat us in '96 as well

Who didn't?

[yermom]

Texas :D

[King Barry's Back]

Why would TCU go play on their home turf and not get a return game? TCU did the right thing!!

Heck, how many really good teams would agree to play at owen field and wouldn't get a return game? OU understands this and does home and home series.

We took the one-time game at Notre Dame. Pay a team enough -- no details of the mysterious "third-party" have emerged -- and they'll do it.

But not TCU at this time.

But it was probably worth the time of the "third-party" to explore it.

[Soonermagik]

We took the one-time game at Notre Dame. Pay a team enough -- no details of the mysterious "third-party" have emerged -- and they'll do it.

But not TCU at this time.
But it was probably worth the time of the "third-party" to explore it.

Exactly!! TCU has made it to the top, they don't have to agree to only playing at the other teams field. I think it's only smart to schedule home and home games in their current position. This is the primary reason they turned down playing Wisconsin again. Trust me, Wisconsin will be hesitant to accept a home/home series with TCU. Now, if they were still trying to climb the ladder, then by all means get the exposure.

TCU & Boise just have to play one or two tough games. They believe they are on the verge of getting a legit national title shot.

[Jacie]

TCU has made it to the top, they don't have to agree to only playing at the other teams field. I think it's only smart to schedule home and home games in their current position. This is the primary reason they turned down playing Wisconsin again.

TCU & Boise just have to play one or two tough games. They believe they are on the verge of getting a legit national title shot.

According to Phil Steele, the AP voters do not share this assessment of TCU as regards the 2011 season.

But until Patterson rebuilds (frogs aren't at the point where they can reload) he won't be scheduling any FBS heavyweights (the Boise State game is a one-time thing and playing on the smurf turf is a going away present).

For 2011, they host Louisiana-Monroe and Portland State at Amon G. Carter Stadium and play BYU at Cowboys Stadium on Friday, Oct. 28.

No word yet on which team they've found to replace sand aggie that pulled out of a game scheduled for 2011 but whoever it is, I bet you won't find em ranked in the Top 25 . . .

[SoonerinSouthlake]

TCU will be slightly above average next year.

if that.
Losing a 4 year QB is huge