Four members of the TCU Horned Frogs were arrested for their part in a huge drug bust on campus. Since three of those four were solid defenders for the Horned Frogs, the looming season in the Big 12 looks even more difficult. 

According to the Associated Press, 17 students were arrested after a six-month drug sting. The football players involved were apparently selling marijuana to undercover officers.

Linebacker Tanner Brock, defensive tackle D.J. Yendrey, cornerback Devin Johnson and offensive lineman Ty Horn were the four players. 

The police said they were tipped off by complaints from students and parents, which prompted undercover officers to buy hundreds of dollars worth of marijuana from these football players. 

Less than 24 hours after the release of the 2012 Big 12 schedule, the Horned Frogs are slammed with horrible news. 

Head coach Gary Patterson has always relied on a stout defense, and coming in to this season, he was counting on Brock to be the star defender he was in 2010. 

Brock was the leading tackler for that season, but he was out all of last year with a foot injury. With Tank Carder leaving, TCU desperately needed Brock to be the leader on defense. 

Unfortunately, Brock was being held on a $10,000 bond and probably won't be around next season. The Horned Frogs had to replace four starters on a defense that ranked No. 32 in the country. Now they're likely to lose three more players that would have started. 

Athletic director Chris Del Conte said that he wasn't pleased with this gut-wrenching news.   

I expect our student-athletes to serve as ambassadors for the university and will not tolerate behavior that reflects poorly on TCU, the athletics department, our teams or other student-athletes within the department.

Our student-athletes are a microcosm of society and unfortunately that means some of our players reflect a culture that glorifies drugs and drug use. That mindset is not reflected by TCU nor will it be allowed within athletics.

The move to the Big 12 is absolutely fantastic for TCU, but the arrests of prominent players puts a damper on that. 

Patterson will now look to inexperienced players to fill the void, meaning things could get ugly for the Horned Frogs. They're no longer playing against scrub teams, so each and every player has to play to their full potential because the talent level of their opponents has increased. 

TCU's offense looks to be in good shape, although the Horned Frogs were counting on Horn to be a solid offensive lineman for them this season. TCU had to replace three starters on the line, but with Horn in big trouble, the Horned Frogs take a big hit. 

Still, it's not as much as the defense will suffer. TCU was going to have to rely on a strong defense to defeat the elites of the Big 12, but now Patterson has to prepare players he wasn't planning on starting yet. 

Nobody knows what punishment these players will receive, but since their crimes were big, one would imagine that they're done with TCU football. 

It's unfortunate, but the Horned Frogs have to fight through this and not let it crush their spirits in their first Big 12 season.