Columnist Ron Kantowski: It’s still a long way, but Frog Horns can play

Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2004 | 9:47 a.m.

Ron Kantowski is a Las Vegas Sun sports writer. Reach him at ron@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4088.

OK, now that Texas Christian has officially been admitted to the Mountain West Conference effective the year after next and there's not a darn thing I can do about it, perhaps it's time to accentuate the positive.

The inclusion of the Frog Horns, at least based on this year's standings, may improve the MWC's credibility between the lines.

By now, you've probably heard about their football team, which is at least the equal of Utah and Colorado State and BYU (if Gary Crowton ever gets his act together). While TCU has struggled on the basketball court, it did beat Marquette recently, and many of its non-revenue programs should enhance the Mountain West's reputation in sports that, sad to say, most don't care one whit about.

But if you cared two whits, you'd have to be impressed with the TCU women's basketball program. The Frog Horns are 17-4 and are ranked 22nd in this week's Top 25 poll. Coach Jeff Mittie has guided TCU to the NCAA second round in three of his four seasons in Fort Worth, and if he stays around, the Frog Horns could even take the next step up to join the nation's elite.

They may not be that far off as is, given their 74-66 loss to women's juggernaut Tennessee earlier this year. The Lady Vols were ranked No. 1 as recently as last week before Geno Auriemma and UConn took Tennessee to the woodshed.

Playing competitive basketball against the big girls is nothing new for TCU. In last year's NCAA tournament, it led Connecticut at halftime before losing, 81-66.

The Frog Horns also are nationally ranked in men's and women's golf and men's tennis. And while I haven't checked the latest NCAA rifle poll, it's safe to assume that TCU has pretty much gone ballistic in that obscure sport, too.

As for its baseball team, anybody around here who didn't care too much for former UNLV coach Jim Schlossnagle (like many of his players) will be glad to learn that his TCU team lost to little Dallas Baptist Sunday to even its record at 1-1.