TCU Will Find the Answer in Its Pyramid

Horned Frogs' Goals Include a National Title

The pyramid is there for all to see, a constant reminder for the TCU football team. Plastered in the meeting room, the pyramid, about 3 1/2 feet high, espouses in black ink the virtues that Coach Gary Patterson believes a team must attain for success, one level at a time. There is a white background; as the TCU players collectively achieve each aim, the background is colored purple.

On Level One, the base of the pyramid and the foundation for a football program, the words "character," "accountability," and "family" are written. Next is mental toughness and maximum effort -- "The Code of Purple," Patterson calls it. Winning at home is third, winning on the road follows. That should make a conference championship, which begets a top 25 ranking.

At the tip of the pyramid are two objectives no one would associate with a Mountain West Conference team that went 5-6 two seasons ago: playing in the Bowl Championship Series and winning a national title.

"Unless you set that as a long-range goal," Patterson said, "you'll never have a chance."

The hopes of a school, a conference and, really, an entire class of football schools rest on how much of the pyramid this season's TCU football team can color purple. The Horned Frogs will attempt to demonstrate that everyone and anyone deserves a spot at college football's head table, that the BCS should not be confined to six conferences based on reputation alone.

A seat will be more accessible than ever this season, with the addition of a fifth BCS bowl and new rules to enhance the chance that a team from outside the six power conferences reaches the most lucrative portion of the postseason. The BCS committee will also begin this season a two-year process of reevaluating which conferences receive automatic bids to the BCS for its champion, which raises the stakes for conferences, such as the Mountain West, trying to turn from have-not to have.

As for this year, if a champion from a non-BCS conference finishes in the top 12 of the BCS standings, it will gain entry into the upper reaches of college football -- and earn the $14 million share that comes with it. A non-BCS conference champion also automatically qualifies for a BCS game if it finishes in the top 16 and is ranked ahead of any of the six conference champions that gain automatic entry.

Complex? Sure. But the point is simple: More teams than ever have a realistic chance at playing in a BCS bowl this season, and TCU, with 21 starters back from last season's 11-1 team, is the team most likely to take advantage of that opportunity.

"In the past, a team from Mountain West would have to be undefeated in a 12-game schedule to get a potential shot," Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson said. "I like this opportunity. Our access point to the BCS has doubled, at least."

When Thompson interviewed to become the Mountain West commissioner in the fall of 1998, the majority of the conversation centered on what the conference could and should do to gain automatic entry in the BCS. Since being hired, Thompson has made a point every day of discussing, at least for a moment, his conference's potential involvement in the BCS. At annual coaches' meetings, he helps teams strategize with their schedules.

Utah, another Mountain West team, became the first and only team outside of the six major conferences to appear in a BCS game in 2004, slamming Big East entry Pittsburgh, 35-7, in the Fiesta Bowl. Thompson never uses the term "BCS conference." He calls them "A.Q. conferences" instead, for "automatic qualifier."

"That's a sticking point for me," Thompson said. "I think there are 11 BCS conferences, six of which enjoy automatic qualification into the BCS."

Said TCU quarterback Jeff Ballard, "It's difficult to get respect when you play in a non-BCS caliber conference."

Patterson has built one the nation's most solid programs since taking over in 2000, going 43-18 using a philosophy predicated on a fast, aggressive defense and a relentless running game. He takes a hands-on approach, coaching defensive techniques like a first-year assistant. When TCU Athletic Director Daniel Morrison finds a spare minute, he likes to go out to football practice, just to watch Patterson coach.

Of course, the players are fun to watch, too. Tommy Blake and Chase Ortiz teamed for 15 sacks last season, terrorizing offensive lines with speed, particularly Blake, who played tailback in high school.

In each of the past three seasons, a TCU running back has opened camp on the third string before going on to rush for more than 1,000 yards that season -- and all three are still on the team. Aaron Brown, Robert Merrill and Lonta Hobbs give TCU one of the deepest, most versatile backfields in the country, including the A.Q. conferences.

"They want to see each other succeed," Ballard said. "It's a testament to their teamwork."

That wasn't always the case. After a 10-2 season in 2003, the 2004 team was picked to finish first in its conference and compete for a spot in the top 25. In-fighting and complacency led to a 5-6 disaster, Patterson's first backward step.

"Some of the players that graduated that year had something to do with that," said Ballard, who diplomatically declined to name names.

Last year, picked to finish sixth in their first season in the Mountain West, the Horned Frogs upset Oklahoma in the season opener. They lost to SMU the next week, then won the rest of their games, including two in overtime.

After a bowl win over Iowa State, Patterson signed a contract through 2012. The negotiations took only a week.

"Which I think is kind of unusual in this day," Morrison said. "He is committed to TCU. He loves Fort Worth. He likes what this school stands for."

For now, that's character, accountability and family. The purple marker remains capped at the moment, TCU's pyramid a blank canvas, one more promising than ever.

TwentyFive Counting down the nation's top college football teams, as ranked by The Post : 25 TCU 2005 Record: 11-1. Returning starters: 21. Players to watch: DE Tommy Blake, DE Chase Ortiz, RB Robert Merrill Potential road block: Texas Tech, Sept. 16. Why they'll play in a BCS bowl: The Horned Frogs will be a favorite against every opponent except perhaps Texas Tech. If they beat the Red Raiders, an undefeated season could await. Why they'll play in Boise, Idaho, on Dec. 28: An offseason of hype may bite the Horned Frogs in their opener against Baylor, a perennial Big 12 doormat that is on the upswing. Tomorrow: No. 24 Nebraska