ESPN

AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- Amric Fields hit a long 3-pointer with 18 seconds remaining to propel TCU to a 65-62 come-from-behind win over Air Force on Wednesday night.

Taylor Broekhuis' game-tying 3-point attempt missed high on the glass as time expired. Fields' basket came after Connell Crossland grabbed the Horned Frogs' 22nd offensive rebound of the night.

Michael Lyons gave the Falcons (13-12, 3-7 Mountain West) a 62-60 lead with 57 seconds remaining on a turnaround jumper, and Air Force blocked two TCU shots before Fields' heroics. J.R. Cadot, who led the Horned Frogs (16-11, 6-5) with 16 points and 13 rebounds, hit two free throws with 3.3 seconds left to put TCU up by three.

TCU led by nine midway through the first half, but Air Force charged back with a 13-0 run. The Falcons led 32-29 at halftime despite allowing eight Horned Frogs offensive rebounds.

TCU athletic director Chris Del Conte released a statement about the TCU drug bust this morning:

"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. We educate individuals to think and act as ethical leaders and responsible citizens in the global community and it is disappointing to me, personally, when they fall far short of these goals.

"We have an excellent athletics program at TCU and an indicator of that excellence is the fact that we will not tolerate criminal conduct among our student-athletes.

"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."

TCU's defense will look different in 2012 after three defensive starters, headlined by linebacker Tanner Brock were arrested on Wednesday morning. The other football players arrested: starting defensive tackle D.J. Yendrey, starting strong safety Devin Johnson and backup offensive lineman Ty Horn.

A two-year starter at linebacker, Brock injured his foot in the Baylor game in 2011 and missed the rest of the season. But he had NFL potential and was expected to anchor the linebacking corps in 2012. The junior led TCU in tackles in 2010 with 106, 26 more than the next-closest Horned Frog. He started beside Tank Carder in TCU's Rose Bowl victory against Wisconsin a little more than a year ago.

But Brock isn't the only starter that was arrested. Yendry started all but one game at defensive tackle. He had three sacks, 5.5 tackles for loss and two fumble recoveries. Johnson worked his way into the starting lineup midway through the season and started the final eight games at strong safety, including TCU's one-point win on the road at No. 5 Boise State.

This was the statement sent out by TCU from head football coach Gary Patterson:

"There are days people want to be a head football coach, but today is not one of those days. As I heard the news this morning, I was first shocked, then hurt and now I’m mad.

"Under my watch, drugs and drug use by TCU’s student-athletes will not be tolerated by me or any member of my coaching staff. Period. Our program is respected nationally for its strong ethics and for that reason the players arrested today were separated from TCU by the University. I believe strongly that young people’s lives are more important than wins or losses.

"This situation isn’t unique to TCU—it is a global issue that we all have to address. This isn’t just about bad decisions made by a small percentage of my team. It is about a bigger issue across this country and world.

"As a coach, I do the best I can to educate members of my team. We have programs in place that teach student-athletes about what they should and shouldn’t do and how to be successful in life. I talk to them about how to be students and upstanding men that uphold the TCU name and its traditions.

"At the end of the day, though, sometimes young people make poor choices. The Horned Frogs are bigger and stronger than those involved."

(All dates subject to change)

Sept. 8: vs. Grambling State
Sept. 15: at Kansas
Sept. 22: vs. Virginia
Sept. 29: at SMU
Oct. 6: vs. Iowa State
Oct. 13: at Baylor
Oct. 20: vs. Texas Tech
Oct. 27: at Oklahoma State
Nov. 3: at West Virginia
Nov. 10: vs. Kansas State
Nov. 24: at Texas
Dec. 1: vs. Oklahoma

How do you think the Horned Frogs will do in their first Big 12 season?

Karl Ravech and Doug Gottlieb preview Saturday's TCU-San Diego State matchup.

When TCU recruited Jerry Hughes, he was a 220-pound running back. When the Indianapolis Colts drafted him in the first round of the 2010 NFL draft, Hughes was a 255-pound, two-time All-American defensive end.

TCU head coach Gary Patterson has a knack for putting players in the right spots.

Oklahoma wanted Euless Trinity's Brandon Carter to play cornerback. When Patterson gave him a chance at receiver, Carter decommitted and joined TCU, where he caught 23 passes for 352 yards as a true freshman, including the game-winning touchdown at Boise State.

With TCU’s 2012 recruiting class, arguably Patterson’s best, it won’t be any different.

“When it’s all said and done, they want to be in a position where they can play at the highest level,” Patterson said. “It’s a very small percentage where a kid says ‘I just don’t want to move,' or 'I just don’t want to do that.’ ”

He said there are five or six players in this class that could play different positions than they did in high school.

“We’re still looking for athletes,” Patterson said. “Guys who can run and go do things.”

Patterson talked specifically about 2012 commit Derrick Kindred. Most of the 5-foot-10 athlete’s highlights are from playing running back at San Antonio’s Wagner High School. But Patterson said Kindred could end up playing wide receiver, safety or cornerback.

TCU signed 23 players on Wednesday and, according to the ESPN.com rankings, are sitting at No. 24 in the country.

Two late commitments made helped that ranking as safety Jordan Moore, the No. 15 safety in the ESPN.com rankings, chose TCU over Auburn on Tuesday night. Then early Wednesday morning, Terrell Lathan, a defensive end from Louisiana, chose TCU over Louisiana Tech in a surprise announcement.

TCU had five four-star ESPN signees and defensive end Devonte Fields from Arlington Martin was No. 73 in the ESPNU 150.

Here's the full list of TCU's recruits:

LaDarius Anthony, TB, 6-0, 192 (Kilgore, Texas)
Austin Aune, QB, 6-2, 185 (Argyle, Texas)
Gerren Ballard, TE, 6-6, 250 (Whitewright, Texas)
Josh Carraway, DE, 6-3, 225 (Flower Mound, Texas)
B.J. Catalon, TB, 5-8, 190 (Houston, Texas)
Chad Childs, OT, 6-5, 280 (La Grange, Texas)
Aviante Collins, OT, 6-6, 310 (Houston, Texas)
Devonte Fields, DE, 6-4, 240 (Arlington, Texas)
Keivon Gamble, CB, 5-10, 190 (Dallas, Texas)
Griffin Gilbert, TE, 6-5, 215 (Austin, Texas)
Deante’ Gray, WR, 5-10, 180 (Houston, Texas)
A.J. Hilliard, LB, 6-2, 215 (Klein, Texas)
Joey Hunt, DT, 6-3, 285 (El Campo, Texas)
Zach Jackson, S, 6-0, 185 (Snellville, Ga.)
Derrick Kindred, ATH, 5-10, 180 (San Antonio, Texas)
Terrell Lathan, DE, 6-5, 260 (West Monroe, La.)
Kolby Listenbee, ATH, 6-0, 170 (Arlington, Texas)
Tyler Matthews, QB, 6-3, 205 (McPherson, Kansas)
James McFarland, LB, 6-3, 240 (West Monroe, La.)
Jordan Moore, S, 6-3, 210 (Lithonia, Ga.)
Jaden Oberkrom, PK, 6-3, 170 (Arlington, Texas)
Ethan Perry, P, 6-4, 220 (Spring Branch, Texas)
Halapoulivaati Vaitai, OT, 6-6, 265 (Haltom, Texas)

Karl Ravech and Doug Gottlieb discuss TCU joining the Big 12.

Griffin Gilbert, a four-star tight end from Lake Travis High School in Austin, helped lead his high school tem to its fifth consecutive Texas state title, the first high school to win five straight football championships in Texas high school history.

Griffin is the eighth-ranked TE, according to the ESPNU rankings. Here's part of Damon Sayles' post (insider) on Griffin:

“I’ve been on varsity for three years now, and to see the program rise to where it is, it’s simply amazing,” Gilbert said. “I’m so proud of my team. Everyone gave everything we had. Now, we can say we have five state championships.”

Winning can become addictive, and Gilbert admitted that he doesn’t want his personal streak to end in college. After reconfirming his commitment to TCU, he said he hopes to be an immediate impact player for the Big 12 Conference’s newest participant.

Gilbert added that he hopes to build a healthy – but friendly – rivalry with his older brother. Former Texas quarterback Garrett Gilbert transferred to SMU earlier this year and is expected to have a year of eligibility remaining after sitting out a season. SMU and TCU have been respected Dallas-Fort Worth area competitors as of late, and much is expected from both teams in the seasons to come.

“Of course, we both want to win,” Griffin said, “but it’s going to be fun playing against [Garrett].”

Casey Pachall highlighted a record-setting game with a 42-yard touchdown pass to Skye Dawson with 4:26 left to lift TCU (No. 18 ESPN/USA Today, No. 16 AP) to a 31-24 victory against Louisiana Tech in the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl.

The quest to become an automatic qualifying conference did not die when the Mountain West lost the last of its marquee teams.

Indeed, the Mountain West is holding out hope that its appeal to the Presidential Oversight Committee will be granted, giving it AQ status for 2012 and 2013. The big question is whether the league deserves it, considering its membership will look radically different for those two seasons.

Utah is gone. BYU: gone. TCU: gone. Boise State is headed for the exits in 2013. Remember, it is those four schools that allowed the Mountain West to meet the standards laid out in two of the three categories needed for automatic qualification. Yet those four schools will be gone by 2013.

Three of those schools had BCS appearances during 2008-11, the years included for the qualification cycle. Each had at least one top-25 finish in the BCS standings. Though Boise State achieved most of its success in the WAC, its credentials count toward the Mountain West because it joined this season. Though Utah and BYU left this year, what they accomplished in the Mountain West count, too.

If those four schools had remained, there would be a powerful argument to give the Mountain West an AQ spot. Boise State has finished in the top 10 of the final BCS standings four straight years. TCU narrowly missed its third straight BCS appearance. One of the biggest travesties of recent BCS selection has been the constant exclusion of Boise State as an at-large selection, and that would be repaired with an AQ spot.

But what is the Mountain West without Utah, TCU, Boise State and BYU? By the time 2013 rolls around, the league will be left with Nevada, Fresno State, Hawaii, Air Force, Colorado State, Wyoming, New Mexico and UNLV.

Three of those eight teams are bowl eligible this season. Only Hawaii has made a BCS game in its history. Colorado State has not been to a bowl game since 2008; New Mexico since 2007; UNLV since 2000. Four of those schools will have new head coaches in 2012, and none appear ready to become the next "BCS buster" because they have not maintained the same level of consistency as the schools that have departed.

The Mountain West argues in its appeal to the committee that it deserves a spot for a variety of reasons. The league believes its performance during the qualifying cycle is deserving of inclusion. And as for the question about whether it should become an AQ conference despite its membership changes, the league points to none other than the Big East -- the BCS whipping league.

In February 2004, prior to the implementation of the BCS contract established for the 2004-2007 cycle, the Big East Conference (Big East) experienced membership change which significantly affected the competitive strength of its football enterprise. However, without any formal action, the Big East was permitted to retain its automatic-qualifying status for the next cycle -- apparently based upon reputation and relationships, rather than demonstrated performance.

The league points to two other instances in which the Big East was allowed to retain its AQ status in its appeal letter.

Those comparisons are understandable, but the situations are different. The Big East was grandfathered in as a member of the "original six" automatic qualifying conferences. Whether the Big East deserves its spot should not come into play here because the Mountain West should be judged based on its own merits.

This is a league that has had many big wins over AQ teams, and performed well in BCS games and bowl games in general. The league has won the Bowl Challenge Cup four times since 2002-03. But there is a bottom line here: The Mountain West is simply not the conference that got all these national accolades.

Now it is up to the Presidential Oversight Committee to determine whether that matters.

After the monumental 2010 season, safeties coach Chad Glasgow left to become the defensive coordinator at Texas Tech.

A few years back, former defensive coordinator David Bailiff, now the head coach at Rice, left coach Gary Patterson's TCU Horned Frog staff for a head coaching job.

And on Wednesday night, TCU co-offensive coordinator Justin Fuente became the latest to springboard from Frogs' success. Fuente, 35, has accepted the challenging job as head coach of the Memphis Tigers.

Success breeds opportunity and Patterson is pleased to see it.

"He's a good, young coach on a really good offensive staff," Patterson said late Wednesday night. "He will work very hard trying to get them on the road to where they want to be."

Memphis finished 2-10 and 1-7 in the East Division of C-USA.

At TCU, Fuente, hired by Patterson in 2007 as a running backs coach, became co-offensive coordinator in 2009 and moved over to coach quarterbacks. He spent gamedays in the booth while his partner, Jarrett Anderson, handled handled running backs and coached on the sideline.

The Frogs will likely have to adjust for the Poinsettia Bowl on Dec. 21 in San Diego. Patterson said he expects Fuente will want to get to Memphis quickly and get to work.

Fuente and Anderson produced the three best offensive seasons in terms of total yards and points in school history and clearly prepared Cincinnati Bengals rookie quarterback Andy Dalton well for the NFL. This season, sophomore and first-year starting quarterback Casey Pachall, challenged four of Dalton's single-season school records (completions, completion percentage, touchdowns and yards) and broke one (67.8 completion percentage).

Patterson said he foresees continuing his tradition of co-offensive coordinators for the 2012 season when TCU enters the Big 12.

Anderson, who is finishing his 14th season with the Frogs, could possibly slide over and coach quarterbacks. Wide receivers coach Rusty Burns, who came to TCU in 2009 after being an offensive coordinator at SMU, Cincinnati, Wyoming, Memphis and Connecticut, could certainly be a candidate to sit shotgun.

"We've got a great offensive staff," Patterson said, "and we'll pick up and move forward."

TCU HORNED FROGS

Record: 10-2, 7-0 MWC

The season did not exactly start the way TCU is used to, with losses in two of the first five games. It was not the offense that was a problem, but the defense, which simply gave up too many points and too many big plays in the pass game in losses to Baylor and SMU. Injuries and inexperience really hurt the defense, with key losses like Tanner Brock (injury) and safety Tejay Johnson (graduation) having an impact. But you knew with Gary Patterson, a defensive guru, performances like that would not last. TCU showed steady improvement, then pulled the upset of the season in Boise, beating the Broncos 36-35 to end their long winning streak on the blue turf.

TCU ended up winning another conference championship, reaching the 10-win mark for the fourth straight year and eighth time in the past 10 seasons under Patterson. Before Patterson arrived on campus in 1998, the Horned Frogs had just four 10-win seasons in their history.

They end their run in the Mountain West having won a record 24 straight league games, while also holding the conference mark for consecutive home league wins at 17.

Offensive MVP: Casey Pachall, QB. The big concern going into the season was how Pachall would fare in place of Andy Dalton, the school's all-time winningest quarterback. Pachall did a terrific job in his first year as a starter, going 213-of-314 for 2,715 yards, 24 touchdowns and six interceptions. He made the All-MWC second team. Receiver Josh Boyce was outstanding as well, with 932 yards receiving and nine touchdown receptions.

Defensive MVP: Tank Carder, LB. Injuries hampered Carder's productivity at the beginning of the season, but he closed out strong and ended up winning Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year honors for a second straight season. Carder finished with 66 tackles, including 4.5 for a loss, and returned two interceptions for touchdowns.

Turning point: Beating Boise State 36-35. Coach Gary Patterson gambled and went for 2 late in the game, playing for the win rather than the tie. Pachall found Josh Boyce in the end zone for the conversion with 1:05 remaining. The Broncos marched down the field and got into field goal range, but Dan Goodale missed a 39-yard field goal at the gun. The victory allowed TCU to win its third straight Mountain West Conference championship in its final year in the league.

What’s next: TCU was hoping to get an automatic selection into the BCS but failed to finish in the top 16 of the final standings. So it's off to the Poinsettia Bowl against WAC champion Louisiana Tech, then a move to the Big 12 Conference for the 2012 season. There is so much young talent on this team, it will be interesting to see how the Horned Frogs fare in their first year in an AQ conference.

TCU didn't gain any ground in the final BCS standings, ending up at 18th -- just where they started before the weekend began. TCU finished 15th in both polls that count toward the BCS (Harris and USA Today Coaches'), but other teams had better computer rankings.

Despite finishing ahead of Houston, Georgia and Oklahoma being behind TCU in the Coaches' Poll, Georgia and Oklahoma ended up ahead of the Frogs in the BCS. Clemson jumped ahead of TCU, which you'd expect after beating Virginia Tech, with Houston finishing one spot behind.

Basically, the computers didn't help TCU at all. If you break it down:

* Georgia's loss to LSU was not enough to drop them past TCU, thanks in large part to the computers. They finished No. 18, while TCU was No. 15 in both polls. But they had a 12 computer average.

* TCU was higher in the computers than Michigan State, who lost a close game to Wisconsin for the Big 10 title, but the Spartans finished one spot ahead of TCU thanks to the polls.

* Oklahoma was 19th in both polls, four spots below TCU. But they were seventh average in the computers, placing them 14th in the final BCS.

I'm getting emails and tweets already from TCU fans disappointed. I get that. But the bottom line is that TCU didn't beat SMU at home early in the season. SMU played well and got a big win, but that loss (more than Baylor, which finished No. 12 in the BCS) was costly. TCU would moved up that week toward the top-12 or so of the BCS and would have continued to go up assuming they kept winning. None of this drama would have been necessary.

The challenge for Gary Patterson is to be sure his club is fired up to play Louisiana Tech. They are an underrated team and TCU has to be ready. He'll need to get them to move on from the disappointment and prepare.