Kansas State vs. TCU: How Horned Frogs Win Reshapes Playoff Picture

Led by the freewheeling exploits of star quarterback Trevone Boykin, TCU notched an important 41-20 victory over Big 12 rival Kansas State on Saturday. The win leaves both teams with 5-1 conference records and keeps the Horned Frogs' College Football Playoff hopes alive.

If nothing else, this season has proven the Horned Frogs belong in the Big 12. Head coach Gary Patterson said prior to the Kansas State game that this team is prepared for bigger and better things.

“Obviously proved to all of those people that said TCU couldn’t win in the Big 12,” he said, via Mac Engel of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "There is still a lot of work to do. We are just touching the iceberg. I told you guys that — 'bout like when I told you someday we'd go to a BCS bowl. You kinda looked at me strange."

As the Big 12 is one of the better conferences in the nation, this bodes well for TCU's chances should it win out. This is a highly likely proposition, as the Horned Frogs' last three opponents—Texas, Kansas and Iowa State—have a combined 10-18 record this season.

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The lack of a Big 12 title game could work against the Horned Frogs. It prevents them from another chance to prove their worth as one of the best teams in college football. On the other hand, winning the Big 12 title outright or on tiebreakers and getting a week off preserves their win-loss record, and other teams from the major conferences could slip up and push them through.

TCU's only loss on the season was a 61-58 thriller against Baylor, who is also 5-1 in Big 12 play. The Bears do own the head-to-head tiebreaker over TCU, which means the Horned Frogs will be hoping that Kansas State can come through and beat Baylor on Dec. 6. 

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There is a chance the Horned Frogs could move into the College Football Playoff spot without necessarily winning the Big 12 title. TCU was ranked sixth in the College Football Playoff rankings coming into this week, while Baylor was 12th. 

Having the No. 1 scoring offense in the nation lends a certain amount of prestige, but the College Football Playoff committee will be inclined to go with title winners. TCU's schedule is nothing to sneeze at either, as they've gone 4-1 against ranked opponents this season.

Grantland's Matt Hinton noted it will be a tough call between these two teams:

Assuming Baylor slips up, the Horned Frogs should get the final playoff spot alongside Florida State, Oregon (if it wins the Pac-12) and whichever team makes it out of the SEC West alive—which looks to be the Mississippi State Bulldogs at this point.

It's highly unlikely that two SEC teams will make the CFP after Auburn's loss to Texas A&M. However, Alabama is still a possibility to make the cut if it wins the SEC title and the Bulldogs' only loss on the season comes against the Crimson Tide.

Ohio State is still lurking and looks to be in control of the Big Ten, but the sullied reputation of the conference leaves them without any bona fide signature wins on the season.

TCU is still in the playoff hunt with the win, but it might not control its own destiny with so many other worthy one-loss teams from across the nation.