2022 College Football Playoff Rankings: TCU, Your Spotlight Has Arrived

After a few days of waiting and wondering, the TCU Horned Frogs are officially fourth in the newest College Football Playoff rankings.

But as the Horned Frogs enter the decisive stretch of the regular season, they're No. 1 in the spotlight.

We fully expected top-ranked Georgia would be here, along with fellow front-runners Ohio State and Michigan.

TCU even close to the Top Four, though? Not at all.

Last offseason, the program fired longtime coach Gary Patterson. Sonny Dykes arrived from nearby SMU and brought a high-powered offensive system, but TCU looked more like a bowl candidate than a Big 12 contender. Max Duggan, who didn't even win the quarterback competition initially, has become a fringe Heisman Trophy candidate.

Through 10 weeks, the surging program—one that posted a 23-24 mark over the last four seasons—holds a 9-0 record with a straightforward path to the CFP. Win out, and TCU will be a part of the Playoff.

As much as you or I might be eager to see a real CFP controversy, there's no chance that a 13-0 power-conference champion would be excluded from the national semifinals. However, the Horned Frogs' potential road to 13-0 is stacked with major obstacles.

On Saturday night, they travel to face No. 18 Texas (6-3). Next weekend, they head to rival Baylor (6-3). To close the regular season, TCU hosts Iowa State (4-5), a pesky program with three straight victories in the series.

Then there's the Big 12 Championship Game for a likely showdown with a nine-win opponent.

This is an ideal, much-needed stretch for TCU to eliminate any doubters lingering within the CFP Selection Committee. Because, folks, the Horned Frogs have at least a few of those.

In the initial CFP poll, TCU landed at No. 7 behind Alabama. Committee chair Boo Corrigan cited TCU's lack of a dominant defense as a weakness and evidence for why it trailed the one-loss Crimson Tide. Suspect reasoning, for sure, but nonetheless what we heard.

You know what muffles those criticisms? More wins.

Corrigan also pointed to the Horned Frogs' need for comebacks—against Oklahoma State and Kansas State—as a negative in the comparisons. That happened again in Week 10 with another late surge to beat Texas Tech.

You know what silences that flimsy justification? More wins, no matter what the scoreboard reads in the third quarter.

"As you know," Corrigan said Tuesday on ESPN, "we value wins."

Funny how quickly the tone changes.

Now, sure, the elusive "game control" is a plausible reason to keep TCU behind a more impressive undefeated team with a weaker schedule such as Michigan. We can talk about TCU's resume as it stands, too.

Spun positively, TCU has toppled four opponents that were ranked at the time of the game. In the moment, Oklahoma (3-1), Kansas (5-0), Oklahoma State (5-0) and Kansas State (5-1) each owned excellent records. It isn't TCU's fault that all four programs have since lost another game, or that key injuries have plagued each of those rosters.

On the other hand, a team's year-end record is a more accurate measure of any program. While the Big 12 is deep, it lacks a second upper-tier contender given that everyone beyond TCU has three-plus losses.

You don't have to agree—or disagree—with either rationale. Both are logical explanations of TCU's situation.

But that's simply a sidebar of more impactful results to come.

As we remind you in early and mid-November every single year, the arguments of note on this particular Tuesday might not even be important in a week. Or in two weeks, three weeks, or on Selection Day.

TCU might use any perceived slight as motivational fuel, but the only storyline that matters is Saturday's result at Texas. And then the showdown at Baylor, the clash with Iowa State and a possible spot in the Big 12 title game.

Want more respect, TCU? The spotlight—your opportunity—is here.