TCU and Boise State are known nationally for their football programs, which finished 1-2 in the Mountain West this season.
In fact, football is the reason both schools are short-timers in the conference. TCU heads to the Big 12 in the fall, while the Broncos will join the Big East in football and put its other sports back in the WAC in 2013.
The immediate future, though, is a men’s basketball game between the schools Saturday afternoon in Fort Worth, Texas, with something far less glamorous on the line than a conference title — a chance to get out of the MW basement.
Boise State (10-7, 0-2) and TCU (10-7, 0-2) are the only winless teams in league play. Tipoff is at 1:30 p.m., and the game is being televised on The Mtn.
“This one is really big because we need to get our first (MW) win,” Boise State senior Wes Perryman said. “It’s another road trip, so that’s tough. We still haven’t gotten over that hump. This is probably the biggest game for us.”
Historically, especially in the past 10 years, Boise State has been the stronger hoops program, though neither has what you would define as a storied basketball history.
The Broncos have been to the NCAA Tournament five times, most recently in 2008. BSU also has been to the NIT (2004) and College Basketball Invitational (2009, 2011) in the past 10 years.
TCU’s last winning season came in 2004-05, and the Horned Frogs made the NIT that season. They haven’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 1998 and just seven times overall, with five of those coming before 1972.
So is being at a football school a benefit when trying to build a basketball program? Or does it make it tougher?
“Regardless if it’s football or basketball, when a program’s history is not good, the challenges are always the same,” TCU coach Jim Christian said. “You’ve got to change the culture and try to attract the right kind of kids.”
Having the strong football program definitely helps in recruiting, Boise State coach Leon Rice said.
“We have a national name because of that football program, so people knew who we were when we went out recruiting,” said Rice, who added seven new scholarship players and nine overall to this season’s team.
Perryman said “it’s tough” being a basketball player at a football school.
“You would love for it to be more of a basketball school,” he said. “Then again, (football) brings a lot of publicity to your school with them being so good every year. People start to talk about Boise State.”
Boise State (3,927) and TCU (4,509) rank in the bottom half of the MW in basketball attendance. In football, the schools were in the top half of attendance, averaging more than 33,000 fans per game.
“The good thing — you can see the passion of your fan base,” Christian said. “I don’t think it changes for other sports if those other sports are successful. The whole thing is to build something that’s successful that people can come out and see.”
Of course, that’s easier said than done. And trying to lure a fan base that has gotten used to winning in football to support a rebuilding basketball program is something neither program has figured out.
“I think the one drawback is — because of where our football program is — sometimes you expect a miracle out of the basketball program,” Rice said. “Changing a program and bringing it to that level takes time and it takes a lot of grinding. It’s a process and you can’t cheat the process, you really can’t.”
Winning usually attracts fans. When the Broncos won 22 games last season in Rice’s first season on the bench, attendance numbers climbed by more than 1,500 fans per game from the previous season to an average of 4,594.
But this year’s squad was picked to finish last in the Mountain West, which currently ranked as one of the top six conferences in the country in terms of RPI.
The football programs at BSU and TCU were built in conferences that weren’t known as football powers. The basketball programs don’t have that luxury.
“Our challenge in this is that it’s a basketball league — that’s the biggest challenge,” Rice said. “I said that from the moment we got in. We were picked eighth, and in my mind, there’s no question, that’s where it was, with how many new guys we’ve had and how good this league was.
“We have to keep our eyes on the big picture. We have a young team and our mission is to just keep getting better, and if we do, we’re going to have a really good basketball program as we go forward.”
Christian said there is one way to define a “basketball school.”
“I’ve always made this statement — you could be a basketball school on one day a year, and that’s selection Sunday,” he said. “Regardless of how (schools) emphasize football, baseball or hockey or whatever sport, on that one day if you get into that big tournament, you’re a basketball school and really that’s all you can worry about.”
Nick Jezierny: 377-6420
