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Time to look at a few of the best things in the Big 12 this spring.

Biggest breakout star: Bryce Petty. The Bears' quarterback is an unknown for now, but he's learned a proven system under great coaches and great quarterbacks. This spring, he never let his competition come close to making it real quarterback battle in Waco. Despite windy conditions, he capped the spring with 181 yards and two touchdowns on 13-of-15 passing. Don't be surprised if he hangs similar stat lines in a first half or two next year.

Biggest flip-flop: Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy. Midway through the spring, Gundy offered some real clarity on his quarterback situation, which ended with Clint Chelf carrying the Cowboys through bowl practices and a lopsided win in the Heart of Dallas Bowl. "Clint Chelf is our starter, he takes all the reps with the ones right now. The other guys compete out there, but I don't necessarily feel like there's a battle out there to start in the first game," Gundy said. A week later, though, he said the Pokes "haven't necessarily said anything about the [starter for the] first game of the season." He says they won't be offering any updates on the QB situation until after the season opener against Mississippi State and Chelf is off-limits to media, along with his competition, sophomores J.W. Walsh and Wes Lunt.

Best spring-game performance: Jordan Thompson, WR, West Virginia. Dana Holgorsen joked that Thompson is earning a reputation as the greatest spring game player of all time after he recorded six catches for 123 yards and three touchdowns. Just don't spend too much time reading this paragraph. "Until he plays like that in a game, we're going to call it like it is," Holgorsen said. "I haven't seen him play like that in a game yet. Until he does that in a game, we're not going to talk about it."

Biggest surprise: TCU's quarterback indecision. Many assumed that Casey Pachall's return to the Horned Frogs meant Trevone Boykin's days as the starting quarterback were over, or at least on hold for another season. After 15 practices this spring, however, that hasn't been the case just yet. Coach Gary Patterson says Boykin's made big strides since the end of the season and Pachall looked rusty after not working out or throwing while he was in treatment for drug and alcohol addiction. More than a few folks are skeptical of Patterson's insistence that the competition is still open, but we'll know for sure when TCU opens against LSU.

Most to prove: Jake Heaps and Kansas. KU's Big 12 losing streak now stands at 21 games, and Heaps is looking like a much better passer than Dayne Crist was at this time last year. Charlie Weis is also stocking his roster with tons of juco talent, which could mean a quick turnaround. Will it, though? KU needs to get back to respectability and fast, but winning that first Big 12 game won't be easy.

Best new uniforms: Baylor and West Virginia. West Virginia had a ballyhooed debut before its spring game with three sets of white, blue and Old Gold pants, jerseys and helmets, giving WVU 27 possible combinations. The numbers on the jerseys are also inspired by miners' pick axes. Baylor also debuted new jerseys, highlighted by an all gold chrome helmet and most importantly, the elimination of a cartoonish bear claw mark on the pants.

It's a big season in Fort Worth with lots of expectation and excitement. How does the schedule stack up? Let's take a closer look.

Full schedule:

• Aug. 31: vs. LSU at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas
• Sept. 7: SE Louisiana
• Sept. 12: at Texas Tech
• Sept. 28: SMU
• Oct. 5: at Oklahoma
• Oct. 12: Kansas
• Oct. 19: at Oklahoma State
• Oct. 26: Texas
• Nov. 2: West Virginia
• Nov. 9: at Iowa State
• Nov. 16: at Kansas State
• Nov. 30: Baylor

Non-con challenge: LSU. TCU wasn't a Big 12 member when it signed up for a home-and-home against LSU, but the two teams decided to make it one clash at Cowboys Stadium in 2013 instead. It should be a great one. Two top-15 teams in a matchup that will surely attract plenty of attention and maybe "College Gameday," too. Casey Pachall's likely debut will draw plenty of attention, but LSU locked down Oregon in this stadium two years ago and the strong defensive tradition will be a huge early test for the Frogs and the best nonconference game of any team in the Big 12.

Gut check game: at Texas Tech. Tech will be a bit of a wild card this season, and win or lose that game against LSU, the Frogs will have to validate themselves in a tough road atmosphere in the first big game of the Kliff Kingsbury Era. Believe me, Tech is no doubt good enough to beat TCU, though the Frogs did play very well on the road last season. It's also got a tinge of revenge to it, too. The Red Raiders beat the Frogs in triple overtime last season. Lose this game, and regardless of what happens in that LSU game, the Frogs' balloon will be pretty deflated.

Chance to impress: at Oklahoma. Gary Patterson went and beat Oklahoma in Norman before it was cool and everybody was doing it. Until 2011, only two coaches had ever done it. Patterson's been joined by Brian Kelly, Bill Snyder and Tommy Tuberville in the past two seasons, but this season is different. TCU's not trying to pull an upset. It's trying to walk into Oklahoma and gain an edge in the Big 12 title race by proving it's definitively better than the Sooners. That's new territory for the Frogs, and no doubt: If TCU wins this game, they'll impress and be forced to be taken seriously as a real Big 12 title contender.

Eyeing revenge: at Oklahoma State. For one, TCU will have to fight through more than just the Sooners to win a Big 12 title but last year's 27-0 second half in Stillwater was the low point of TCU's season, and the biggest disappointment for Patterson's team last year. Thanks to a scheduling quirk, the Frogs have to make a return trip to Oklahoma State, but this game will have a big impact on the Big 12 title race and winning it would mean a whole lot to TCU.

Upset watch: at Kansas State. If TCU does hang on and is in the thick of the Big 12 title hunt, the late-season trip to K-State will be a difficult one for a team that's never easy to beat. Add to that a frenzied road atmosphere and the pressure of badly needing a win and everything that a title would mean to the program, and it's going to be a bumpy road for the 11th game and the final road game of the season for the Frogs.

Final analysis: TCU gets the favorable five home games in conference play and goes on the road four times, though two of those road games are against contenders Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. That makes the road to the Big 12 title look a bit more uphill. Granted, this is the same team that didn't win a Big 12 game at home last season, so maybe that's not quite a good thing. The middle of the season is where it all will go down for the Frogs, playing the league's three other top teams sandwiched around a home date in October against Kansas, who actually gave the Frogs some issues last season, thanks to turnover problems. That was with Pachall on the field, too. That stretch will decide if TCU's Big 12 title dreams are pipe dreams or if they'll become reality.

Colleague Mark Schlabach updated his preseason Top 25 after the spring, and there's still no Big 12 teams in the top 10, but two made his top 15.

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I agree with shutting the Big 12 out of the top 10, though it would be the first time in league history it lacked a team in the preseason top 10. Where we disagree? The order.

Schlabach has Texas as the Big 12's top team at No. 13.

"(Mack) Brown also believes UT's defense, which ranked 73rd nationally in scoring defense (29.2 points per game) last season, will be more equipped to defend hurry-up offenses after seeing one in practice every day," Schlabach writes.

Maybe Texas ends up winning the league, but that defense has to show me something more and the offense has to be more consistent before I really believe the league's best team is the Longhorns. Two spots later, my Big 12 favorite, Oklahoma State, makes its appearance.

"(Defensive coordinator Glenn) Spencer inherits an experienced defense -- 13 of the top 27 players on the defensive depth chart are seniors," Schlabach writes.

Good points there, and one that gets overlooked. It'll pay off for the Pokes, who actually moved up five spots from No. 20 since Schlabach's last update. Texas had moved up one spot, from No. 14.

Oklahoma, though, is at No. 17, down two spots from the last update.

"The Sooners have to settle on a starting quarterback (all signs point to Blake Bell replacing record-setting passer Landry Jones), but their biggest concerns are still on the defensive side of the ball," Schlabach writes. "OU coach Bob Stoops admitted this spring that defensive coordinator Mike Stoops (his brother) might have underestimated the strength of Big 12 offenses in his first season back in the league."

Very interesting revelation from Schlabach there, who made a visit to Norman this spring. I definitely agree about the defense being a bigger issue, but Stoops sounded optimistic last week about the progress of some younger players like Frank Shannon and Cortez Johnson.

The fourth Big 12 team is right at No. 18, down from No. 17. That's my Big 12 No. 2: TCU.

"The Horned Frogs learned plenty while finishing 7-6 in their first season in the Big 12. They know defense is still their strength, after leading the Big 12 in total defense, allowing 323.9 yards per game," he writes.

That's no small accomplishment, especially considering how their fellow Big 12 newcomer, West Virginia, handled the offenses. TCU had to deal with tons of injuries and a whole lot of youth on defense, and still had the league's best defense. Amazing stuff.

Schlabach's much higher on Kansas State than I am, keeping the Wildcats at No. 20 coming off their Big 12 title season.

"Kansas State is renovating Bill Snyder Family Stadium this spring, and the Wildcats' venerable coach is rebuilding his football team, too," he writes.

Certainly seems like we have differing opinions on just how well that rebuilding project will go.

That's quite a logjam, and you can see why the league looks so wide open. That's five Big 12 teams in seven spots from No. 13 to No. 20. There's just not much separation between the league's No. 1 team and No. 7 team. Baylor and Texas Tech won't have to do much to crack the Top 25 this season, but I still see the Big 12 with four major contenders and three teams who could definitely get in the mix.

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Before Casey Pachall left TCU's team to seek treatment for drug and alcohol addiction, there was no overwrought, grandiose conversation when both sides compromised to reach a fitting solution. There was no dramatic speech, no tear-filled pleas from either side of the table.

Gary Patterson's message to Pachall was simple: "We’ve got to change the direction you’re going," TCU's coach told ESPN.com in a recent interview.

During a February 2012 campus drug raid in which four football players were among 17 students arrested, Pachall admitted to police that he smoked marijuana and tried cocaine and ecstasy. Two weeks earlier, he had failed a team-wide drug test, and he shared a residence with linebacker Tanner Brock, who was kicked off the team after he was one of the players arrested in the sting.

The news of Pachall's admissions to police didn't surface until August. He spoke to media members and apologized for his "mistakes" but didn't take questions about the police report.

By October, the Frogs were 4-0 and in the top 15 and Pachall led the nation in quarterback rating. An October drunken driving arrest made it clear, however, that Pachall's substance abuse issues were not behind him.

"We really didn’t have a conversation. He didn’t have a choice in the matter. This was what he had to do if he wanted to have a chance to stay in school here," Patterson said. "The biggest thing for me was for him to understand he had hope that, if he did the things he had to do, that he had something to come back to, because playing college football and possibly having a chance to play in the NFL is really important to him."

Pachall was off the team and left to seek treatment, but Patterson made it clear in a news conference in the days that followed that if Pachall completed the program and left his supervisors and sponsors satisfied, he would still have a spot on the team.

"There were those who said I shouldn’t do anything, just suspend him a couple games. There were those who said you should get rid of him," Patterson said. "In this case, looking at all the information I had, I think this was one of those where we needed to help a young man out, not just because he’d been our starting quarterback. He’s not the first, nor will he be the last, that’s given help to. He just happens to be the most publicized."

Patterson didn't have much contact with Pachall during his in-patient treatment, but quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator Rusty Burns kept in touch with his quarterback, who stopped by to see Patterson after leaving in-patient care and beginning outpatient treatment.

"I’ve tried to lend support when needed but really tried to make sure you didn’t show or give him any weaknesses in the fences," Patterson said. "He has to fight his own demons."

By January, Pachall had completed his treatment and re-enrolled at TCU, rejoining the team for workouts and working toward regaining both his teammates' trust and his spot as the team's starting quarterback, ahead of Trevone Boykin, who filled in for Pachall over the season's final nine games.

Amid skepticism from just about everyone, Patterson maintains that the competition is close.

"He’s doing well in class and football, but you can tell he hasn’t thrown a football in a while. But he’s going to keep getting stronger," Patterson said. "For him, it’s now getting back in it, getting your arm stronger, catch up to the speed of the game. The other thing, he left and finds some new people to work with. Him and Josh [Boyce] were kind of an item and now Josh is not here, so he’s got to find who he throws to later on. Trevone already has a feel for that."

Patterson laid out the payoff for Pachall if he could change the direction of his life. To this point, Pachall has held up his end. His journey, however, is only beginning. For anyone who has battled addiction, the fight to stay away from the vices that previously restrained him is never ending.

The two haven't spoken about Pachall's time in treatment, and for Patterson, there's no guarantee that Pachall's struggles are permanently behind him. The focus, though, remains in the present.

"The biggest thing is he understands there are a lot of people paying attention, so he’s got to make sure he walks a straight line," Patterson said. "He’s been doing the right things, and you just take it one day at a time. I don’t think he’s any different than any other person who’s dealt with this."

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Gary Patterson can only smile when he thinks back to 2004, fresh off a 5-6 season in Conference USA and preparing to join the Mountain West Conference when he started telling people that, one day, TCU would be booking tickets to the BCS.

He would draw smiles and the verbal equivalent of a pat on the head usually reserved for a toddler boldly declaring his intentions of becoming an astronaut or the next Tom Brady. Most would tell Patterson they loved his passion but that he sounded like a crazy person in need of some more realistic goals, lest he disappoint fans and boosters of his program.

"Now you’ve been to two, and you’ve won a Rose Bowl," Patterson told ESPN.com in a recent interview.

Understandably, nobody's laughing much anymore when Patterson talks about the program's next goals, even after a seven-win debut in the Big 12 in 2012.

"Now we’re talking about someday winning a Big 12 championship and someday playing for a national championship," Patterson said.

TCU's best chance is now, with a wide-open Big 12 devoid of a preseason national title contender and the Frogs looking likely to tote a status as one of the league's favorites in the 2013 season. The dividends could be enormous, and Patterson doesn't have to look far to see proof.

"You just look at A&M. Nobody said they were going to do very well, but it’s helped them in recruiting because they surprised people with what they did in their first year in the SEC," Patterson said. "There’s not any doubt that if you can go win big early, you can reap the benefits faster."

The line of thinking is this: TCU has been in the Big 12 for only a season, just like A&M hadn't seen a season in the SEC. Early success means few, if any, examples of failing at the higher level of competition. Show that to recruits and it's a convincing sell. Those convincing sells mean signed letters of intent from players who might otherwise not be heading to your campus, and suddenly you've snowballed into a power based on a big splash in a new, bigger pond.

Texas A&M looks headed for that territory. TCU would love to do the same in the Big 12. At least that's the plan, even though Patterson makes it clear he's treating this season like any other. In fact, with a more experienced team, he's implemented the exact same practice plan as he did for the 2010 season when the Frogs went undefeated and knocked off Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl.

"Do we have good players? Yes. Do we have the depth we need? No, but we’ve grown in it at some positions," Patterson said. "If we can stay healthy, unlike we did a year ago, who knows what could happen?"

A Big 12 title could definitely happen, and history tells us if you win the Big 12, you won't be far out of the national title race. Catch a couple breaks and you might end up playing on college football's biggest stage. For TCU, that could mean taking big advantage of the natural assets the program was unable to capitalize on without major conference membership.

"We’ve always known who the best players were in the state," Patterson said. "There’s a lot more kids that walk in our doors now that maybe didn’t walk in our doors before. We recruited them but couldn’t get them."

There's no guarantee, but it's hard to see Patterson's sell being a lot harder to turn down if he walks into a recruit's living room with a Big 12 title ring on his hand and a claim that he's won the league 50 percent of the times he's tried to do it. Add to that the offer of playing for a title just a short drive away from home and the weight of what's on the table for TCU in 2013 becomes clearer.

"Like Devonte [Fields], he’s got about 30-35 family members who come watch him play every game," Patterson said of his star defensive end.

Fields won the Big 12's Defensive Player of the Year honor as a true freshman in 2012 after signing with TCU as the nation's No. 73 overall prospect and the No. 11 player in Texas.

"Then everybody’s bought in," Patterson said. "It’s not just your mom and dad come up from Houston. You’ve got everybody that’s here."

There's no guarantee TCU can count on winning Big 12 titles in 50 percent of the seasons it plays. Oklahoma has done that over the past decade, though, and Patterson is not in the business of lowering the ambition of the goals he sets for his program.

"The key is can you grow and become a top-20 or top-15 team and top-10 team and in the Big 12 and keep it, not do it once every seven to eight years?" Patterson said. "You’ve got teams in this conference who have been able to do it every other year. We’ve got to make decisions that put us in a position to do that. That’s our whole mindset."

Turnover at the quarterback position is the story of the Big 12 this spring, but some schools have made decisions, some are close, and some haven't gotten far in replacing their passers. Here's an update on where each race sits.

Note: Because they have clear, incumbent starters, Iowa State and Texas have been omitted from this update.

Baylor: Bryce Petty entered the spring as the likely successor to Nick Florence and cemented his status as the starter with a strong 15 practices. Petty was officially designated as the starting quarterback on Baylor's post-spring depth chart, besting Seth Russell.

Kansas: Jake Heaps transferred from BYU and looks to have easily surpassed Michael Cummings, as expected, with a strong spring, working mostly with the first team. Kansas held its spring game on Saturday and Heaps far outperformed Cummings, tossing four touchdown passes and completing 20 of 28 passes for 257 yards. Not much competition here.

Kansas State: K-State is about halfway through spring, but there's been almost no development (publicly, at least) in the quarterback race. Last year's backup, the speedy Daniel Sams, is helping juco transfer Jake Waters get acquainted, but they're still splitting reps with the first team and I'd be surprised if we see an announcement until fall.

Oklahoma: Bob Stoops doesn't care about establishing a starter heading into summer 7-on-7 drills, but Blake Bell might have taken that out of his hands with a strong performance in the spring game. An endorsement from Landry Jones can't hurt. Bell showed this spring he's more than a BellDozer and made plays with his arm on Saturday, completing 14 of 23 passes for 214 yards and two scores. Stoops hasn't made an official designation, but Bell looks like he's distanced himself from his competition in Trevor Knight and Kendal Thompson.

Oklahoma State: You can find folks anywhere making a case for Clint Chelf, J.W. Walsh or Wes Lunt, but Mike Gundy's opinion is the only one that matters. He says Oklahoma State's starter is Chelf, and Chelf is receiving most of the first-team reps this spring. It's not hard to see that changing, but for now, the job is Chelf's. The rising senior may have to do something to lose it.

TCU: Most assumed Casey Pachall's return to the team meant he'd step back in and reclaim his job. This spring, it hasn't been that easy. He may do exactly that this fall, but Gary Patterson says he's looked rusty after not throwing or lifting from October to January while receiving in-patient treatment for drug and alcohol addiction. Meanwhile, sophomore Trevone Boykin has looked much improved. Patterson says it's still an open competition, the duo is splitting first-team reps and there may not be a decision until fall.

Texas Tech: It doesn't seem like Michael Brewer has a ton of competition on the roster, but Kliff Kingsbury turned some heads when he trotted out Davis Webb to start a recent scrimmage. Brewer still has to earn the job and it's hard to see that not being the case, but for now, this job is still up for grabs.

West Virginia: This one's still wide open. Texas natives Paul Millard and Ford Childress are still splitting first-team reps and there doesn't appear to be much separation just yet. Expect this competition to heat up in the fall. The coaching staff has already said they don't expect to name a starter by the end of spring or even by the beginning of fall camp.

Athlon Sports ranked all 125 coaches heading into 2013, and that includes the 10 coaches in the Big 12. First on the list is no surprise and won't get any argument from me.

Kansas State's Bill Snyder checked in at No. 3, behind only Alabama's Nick Saban and Ohio State's Urban Meyer.

"As long as Snyder roams the sidelines in Manhattan, regardless of how many starters Kansas State loses, never count out the Wildcats from the Big 12 title discussion," writes Steve Lassan.

Well said. That'll be put to the test this season. Only eight starters return from last year's Big 12 title team, more than only three teams in college football.

Oklahoma's Bob Stoops showed up at No. 7 on the list, just three spots ahead of TCU's Gary Patterson, at No. 10.

"The Kansas native had no FBS head coaching experience when he was promoted at TCU in 2000 but has eight seasons of 10 or more wins, including a 13-0 mark in 2010," Lassan notes.

You can't deny the growth Art Briles has developed at Baylor, and he's at No. 13 on the list after taking the Bears to three consecutive bowl games for the first time in school history. Things look like they're only getting better in Waco, too.

It's a little surprising to see him two spots ahead of Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy at No. 15, but you could make the case either way. Briles' job was infinitely harder than Gundy's, but you can't argue with Gundy's Big 12 title ring, the Pokes' first in about three decades.

Texas' Mack Brown is all the way down at No. 28. The past three seasons have taken their toll on his national reputation, no doubt. It's been quite a slide for the Longhorns.

"The Longhorns have the talent to win the Big 12 title in 2013. If Texas fails to surpass its 2012 win total (nine), there will be plenty of calls for a coaching change in Austin," Lassan writes.

I definitely agree with that. Huge season waiting in Austin.

Paul Rhoads is at No. 38, 10 spots lower. His reputation perhaps exceeds the actual on-field results, but his degree of difficulty in this league is probably even greater than what Briles faces. Briles at least has the advantage of being close to big-time talent in Central Texas. Rhoads' talent pool in Iowa is a lot different, and convincing guys to come north isn't easy.

Dana Holgorsen showed up at No. 50, which definitely seems low, but when you've only been a head coach for two seasons and have a five-game losing streak in one of them, you surrender some right to argue your status, I'd say. He's got a conference title and a BCS bowl win, but winning the Big East won't impress too many folks.

Kliff Kingsbury is down at No. 66, which is where I'd say all first-year coaches belong to start. Any new first-time coach has potential, but they haven't proven to be great or poor yet. Put 'em in the middle, I say.

Lassan has Charlie Weis at No. 106 after his 1-11 campaign at KU last season.

Here's the full list:

• No. 3: Bill Snyder, Kansas State
• No. 7: Bob Stoops, Oklahoma
• No. 10: Gary Patterson, TCU
• No. 13: Art Briles, Baylor
• No. 15: Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State
• No. 28: Mack Brown, Texas
• No. 38: Paul Rhoads, Iowa State
• No. 50: Dana Holgorsen, West Virginia
• No. 66: Kliff Kingsbury, Texas Tech
• No. 106: Charlie Weis, Kansas

That gives the Big 12 half of its coaches in the top 15. Not bad.

Looks like Gary Patterson's hypothesis ended up being correct.

The Frogs won 11 games in 2011, including a win at Boise State. Last season, thanks to injuries, suspensions and players leaving the team, the Frogs limped to a 7-6 season in their first year in the Big 12.

"I think we gained a lot more respect fan-wise from being 7-5 than being 11-2 [and] beating Boise State at Boise State, which to me is an unbelievable win," Patterson told ESPN.com in a recent interview. "To me, that speaks volumes to where we’re at and I think our kids should understand that, what we’re doing."

I actually agree with him and had sensed some similar sentiments from the Big 12's fans, but left it up to you in a vote. You voted loud and clear, and it turns out Patterson was right. Fifty-three percent of voters said 2012's seven-win campaign in the Big 12, highlighted by wins over Texas, West Virginia and Baylor, was more impressive than the 2011 season. Just 47 percent of you voted for the 2011 season.

I'd chalk this up to an exposure issue. I don't think TCU's 2012 team was as good as its 2011 team, or a handful of others the Frogs have had under Patterson, but he and I talked about it a bit, and it's a matter of Big 12 fans being forced to watch TCU on a weekly basis. When they're forced to do that and TCU is hanging around in every game and beating a few teams along the way, Big 12 fans are faced with a truth: TCU is capable of beating my team.

That's easy to scoff at when TCU is bored and struggling with an average SMU team or beating the heck out of a terrible New Mexico team, but when it's going toe-to-toe with Oklahoma or Kansas State, people take notice.

The result: Respect.

FORT WORTH, Texas -- TCU has been an official member of the Big 12 less than a year, but TCU coach Gary Patterson has already seen things he'd never seen before in Fort Worth.

Enemy flags.

Some might take offense, but Patterson says it's a good sign for the Frogs' Big 12 impact.

"The thing I enjoy more than anything is the rivalries off the field and the fans and people who never flew their Oklahoma or Oklahoma State flag because they didn’t think it mattered in Fort Worth," Patterson said. "Now, you see all the flags all over the place."

Every team in the Big 12 has a sizeable contingent of alumni in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, but they all have to make a drive or get on a plane to see their favorite team play on a regular basis. It's unrealistic to expect those folks to become Frogs fans, but there's a big pool of others who could embrace purple very soon. Scoff if you want, but bandwagon fans are good for business.

"We’re the only team in the Big 12 who can say, if we win a national title, we’re coming back to the Metroplex. So, for me, it’s about understanding that everybody will win in Dallas-Fort Worth if we can pull that off someday," Patterson said. "I feel like I’m part of it, feels like when the Rangers had success, when the Mavericks won the championship and the Cowboys back in the day, I think everybody feels like they’re a part of that, and so for me, it’s one of the goals. We’ve reached out to Fort Worth and become one, so now how do we reach out and make sure everybody feels that way?"

The biggest asset, Patterson says, is an atmosphere that Big 12 administrators, coaches and other people across the league lauded after their visits during the Frogs' inaugural lap around their new league. A new batch of Big 12 teams will head to Fort Worth in 2013 during the opposite cycle of the Frogs' Big 12 schedule (except Oklahoma State, thanks to a scheduling quirk), but he's hoping word got out of what game day is like at Amon G. Carter Stadium these days.

"What most people talk out here fan-wise is just how much they liked the stadium, and if you talk to most people in the Big 12, I don’t think they knew the atmosphere was going to be like it was at TCU, because maybe they’d been here 10-15 years ago when we’d been in the old Southwest Conference," Patterson said.

Every once in awhile, when BYU or Utah might make a trip to Fort Worth, that atmosphere might get ramped up. That was every week in 2012," Patterson said.

"I still remember the year we beat Utah here back in 2009 and there were about four kids who changed their mind that weekend who were committed to somebody else," Patterson said. "I think now a kid comes here and he sees that, he feels that energy. What we have to do is a couple of those ballgames (that we lost). You’ve got to win those games."

Wins could beget a big wave of exposure for TCU in a market full of football fans. Though growing TCU's program to the level Patterson wants is certainly ambitious, one other thing is also certain: The fan base and exposure has already grown in the past year, and will continue to do so. How much more growth will happen is heavily reliant upon what happens on the field in the near future.

The fan base might also grow thanks to more and more top-tier players in the Metroplex signing on with the Frogs.

"I try to think about not just what’s good for TCU in general, but what’s good for Fort Worth in general," Patterson said. "I think when you do that, people keep supporting and appreciating, and it’s not just about wins and losses."

FORT WORTH, Texas -- It didn't take long for Gary Patterson to figure out his 2012 freshman class he'd signed in 2012 was different from most he'd encountered as TCU's coach.

For one, it was the first class he'd ever signed with the promise that each player would play out his career in the Big 12 Conference. More than that, though, when Patterson was forced to play 17 of his true freshmen in 2012, he wasn't too surprised when the result wasn't a disaster.

Instead, stars like defensive end Devonte Fields emerged. He won the Big 12's Defensive Player of the Year award, and running back B.J. Catalon, place-kicker Jaden Oberkrom and offensive lineman Aviante Collins earned time as starters. Cornerback Deante' Gray played in the secondary and scored a touchdown on TCU's first touch of the season, a punt return in the season opener against Grambling.

"The freshman class, we knew they were a bit of a different class than what we’d had in the past anyway," Patterson told ESPN.com in a recent interview. "Just the way their mindset is, to the way they approached the summer time and the classwork they did and the offseason work they did with [strength and conditioning] Coach [Don] Sommer."

Before 2012, Patterson had never played more than six true freshmen as a head coach.

Twelve more redshirt freshmen like quarterback Trevone Boykin and receiver LaDarius Brown showed the ability to play immediately and contribute in a tougher conference than the Frogs were used to. Chris Hackett earned a starting safety job less than a third of the way through the season.

Now, it's time for those 28 first-year players to take the next step for the Frogs in one of the most highly anticipated seasons in school history.

"'I want to play and play well,' but playing, you already achieved that," Patterson said of his freshmen. "The biggest thing going forward now, it’s setting goals team-wise, winning championships and playing big and playing well in these kinds of ballgames."

Patterson saw inconsistency in games like losses to Oklahoma State, when the Frogs led 14-9 at halftime but were outscored 27-0 in the second half of the 36-14 loss. He wants consistency, but consistency at a high level.

"So, how do you do that? That comes with maturity and all the other things," Patterson said. "We spent a lot of time talking about the things we have to do to make sure that [inconsistency] doesn’t happen again."

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Thirteen years ago, Gary Patterson heard all kinds of criticism about his program while on recruiting trail in the thick of Big 12 country. It was his first year as head coach of TCU and the Horned Frogs' first season in Conference USA.

But with the Frogs now in the Big 12 and poised for a promising 2013 season, recruits in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex are running out of reasons not to sign close to home at TCU. The program turned heads in December when it swiped longtime Texas recruit Kyle Hicks, who had been committed to the Longhorns since February of 2012.

The Arlington, Texas native is the nation's No. 18 running back and the nation's No. 220 overall recruit. Does flipping a Longhorn commit -- something almost no one did with Mack Brown in charge before the 2013 class -- carry special significance?

"Only if he's a good player," Patterson told ESPN.com in a recent interview. "The key is to go out and find the guy that everybody says what they said about TCU before, is they come in and everybody thinks they’re a 'C' player, and they turn out to be 'A' players. The key is they come in as 'A' players and they’re 'A+' players."

That's what Patterson hopes will be the case with Hicks, whose services shouldn't be needed much in his first season on campus. Running back Waymon James returns alongside B.J. Catalon and blue-chip recruit turned Nebraska transfer Aaron Green, and the trio should be ready to shoulder the load in the backfield in 2013.

Devonte Fields came to TCU from nearby Arlington as a highly-touted recruit. All Petterson did was help turn him into the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year as a true freshman.

"That’s the same thing with Devonte and guys you have down the road. Can you make them live up to their hype? That’s what programs are supposed to do, and if we can do that, then more of them will come," Patterson said. "If you can prove that guy can come here and he can go to the NFL and he can be a great college player and get his degree just like you told him he could then I think what will happen is kids will stay close to home."

The Frogs are trying to turn their location in the thick of a college football talent hotbed into an advantage. Doing so will require more than winning just seven games like they did in 2012 -- their first season back in major conference football as a Big 12 member. Patterson could form a championship-caliber team from DFW high schoolers alone, in theory, but he's going to make sure they answer "yes" to two big questions before any offers are handed out.

"Do they have two things in mind: Do they want to get a degree and do they want to win a national championship?" Patterson said. "Both of them are hard work. There’s no inbetween on either one of them, that’s what our program is built upon: hard work and accountability. That’s how you stay somewhere long enough to do something."

Hicks' answer was "yes," and his legacy is only beginning at TCU. Patterson knows not a soul will remember or care that the Frogs swiped him from Texas if he doesn't take the next step as a player.

"In Kyle’s case, great young man, great player," Patterson said. "Now let’s make him from a great high school player to a great college player, and let’s also get him his college degree."

Ironically, Kansas State saw its program flounder late in Bill Snyder's tenure and throughout Ron Prince's time, despite major recruiting success and beating out national powers for big-time players like future NFL quarterback Josh Freeman. TCU has a chance to see its own recruiting rankings soar annually. But Patterson is focused on making sure his team is full of players with the intangibles that the Frogs have used to build their program over the past decade. Under Patterson, the school has routinely won at least 11 games in a season and their success has led them to membership in a major conference.

"The whole key is to make sure we’re still recruiting the TCU type of guy that is a guy that can come in and he becomes the player that everybody says he was supposed to be," Patterson said. "That’s what my job is, to develop them and not only make them that, but make them better."

FORT WORTH, Texas -- This time last year, Devonte Fields was shuffling to classes as dictated by a bell and gearing up for his high school graduation from Martin High in nearby Arlington, Texas.

TCU coach Gary Patterson says another graduation might be needed for his biggest defensive star.

Fields made a huge impact in TCU's fall camp after showing up to campus in the summer and started every game for the Frogs, making 18.5 tackles for loss and 10 sacks to take home the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year award from the media as a true freshman, despite being an unknown when the season kicked off.

His return this spring, though, hasn't pleased his head coach.

"He’s not had as good a spring as we would have liked him to have had," Patterson told ESPN.com in a recent interview. "You just expect him to get better and faster, but if I tell you all the things, then everybody knows about him. The biggest thing is sometimes you don’t think you have to work as hard and come back and do some things, so getting him back on the level of why he was the player that he was."

By season's end, Fields' profile (among fans and opposing offensive lines alike) was enormous compared to the rest of the Frogs' 17 freshmen who played in 2013, the most ever under Patterson at TCU. Fields' struggles aren't uncommon, but they're not welcome, either.

"The thing you’ve got to be worried about with freshmen, is they think they get that year over with and now everything’s easy. Well, it actually becomes harder," Patterson said. "People call it the sophomore jinx, so for us, we’re really pushing through and making them understand. I think a lot of them are going through that, including Devonte Fields."

This season, Fields won't have the luxury of an all-conference defensive end across from him attracting attention, especially early in the season. Stansly Maponga fought through foot and ankle injuries in 2012, but he was the Frogs' only preseason All-Big 12 selection last fall. Fields made just 4.5 of his 18.5 tackles for loss in the final six games of the season, and had just two of his 10 sacks over that period. The difficulty level also ratcheted up for Fields well before spring began.

"The reason was he was talented, but he played so hard. When you come back, you have to make sure you still do that every day. We don’t feel like we got that as much so far this spring as much as we need to," Patterson said.

Fields can change that with some more work in the weight room and on the practice field this summer and once fall camp begins, but the real measuring stick will come very soon when the Frogs open the season in Fields' hometown of Arlington, Texas at Cowboys Stadium against LSU.

"Freshmen sometimes they play -- scared’s not the right word -- but with great anticipation of the unknown. For us, how do you get it through now to get back and still want to win a conference championship and have the level of play that you have to do to beat the kind of opponents you have to beat in this league?" Patterson said. "We have to keep working forward and getting better."

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Last year, no Big 12 team faced a top-25 opponent in nonconference play for the first month of the season.

When all 30 Big 12 nonconference games were finished, just six came against teams from major conferences, excluding Oklahoma's October date with Notre Dame.

This season, the Big 12's nonconference slate looks a whole lot different, and no team has stepped up its scheduling game as much as TCU. The Horned Frogs will play one of the premier contests of the season's opening weekend when they face LSU, a team that played for a national title just two years ago and has won two BCS titles since 2003.

They'll only have to take a short bus ride about 15 minutes down I-30 to Cowboys Stadium to do it, but the top-notch venue will provide the Frogs a big stage to kick off their second season in the Big 12.

"You’re always looking for a measuring-stick game," coach Gary Patterson told ESPN.com in a recent interview.

LSU will certainly provide that. Wondering if TCU is ready or not? The Tigers will provide the answer with 60 minutes of physical play under the lights at JerryWorld.

"Do you have a better chance of losing that game than maybe the Grambling game last year? Yes, but you also ... your kids get ready as long as you don’t get beat up or lose players; you play well, you gain and you played against great competition," Patterson said. "You’re not going to play against much better than that level of athlete."

For as much talk as you hear with these games about big early-season showdowns wrecking BCS title hopes (LSU did that exact thing to Oregon back in 2011, in the same stadium), Patterson seems to be spending a whole lot more attention staring at the other side of the equation: What TCU has to gain.

"If you can win it, then it ricochets you and skyrockets you in the rankings and gets you closer to all the things you’re trying to do, and that’s what we’re trying to get done," Patterson said, "plus financially, it’s a great deal for the university."

The SportsBusiness Journal reported that LSU earned $3.5 million for its game against the Ducks in 2011. TCU is no stranger to this kind of stage, either. It earned $1 million for playing Oregon State in Cowboys Stadium in 2010. The Frogs and Tigers signed up to play a home-and-home series all the way back in 2006, but last fall switched up plans and decided to play a single game at a neutral site.

TCU will get its measuring stick for sure, though as a Big 12 member these days, it's not quite as needed. It'll also collect a hefty paycheck. If it wins, though? It'll collect more respect than any paycheck can buy.

"You’ve got to be able to step out and do those kinds of things once in awhile and give yourself so you know as a football team where you’re at and what you’re doing," Patterson said. "I think it helps all of us."

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Casey Pachall's arrival was a big deal in the Big 12, and his return to TCU presumably bolstered the Frogs' hopes of winning their first Big 12 title.

When he left the team to seek treatment for drug and alcohol addiction following a DUI arrest last October, he was the nation's leader in passer rating, but this spring, he hasn't just been handed the job that backup Trevone Boykin fought for over the final two-thirds of 2012.

"Trevone is way ahead of where he was because of what he played," Frogs coach Gary Patterson told ESPN.com in a recent interview.

Before becoming the starting quarterback upon Pachall's abrupt exit, Boykin spent time working at running back. Days later, he made his first start in a lopsided home loss to Iowa State. The redshirt freshman wasn't ready, but tough lessons he clearly learned over the rest of the season have paid off this spring. Meanwhile ...

"Casey’s rusty, so I’d say we probably won’t be able to know anything about who that guy will be until we get into fall practice," Patterson said.

Patterson has expressed similar sentiments before, but it's almost always met with strong skepticism, words masquerading as a motivational ploy to keep Pachall working or a cover to prevent Patterson from appearing like a coach who's handing a troubled player his old job back without him earning it.

TCU's practiced are closed tighter than about any in the Big 12, so the number of people who know how that race truly looks is minimal, but is it really all that hard to believe that Patterson's not blowing smoke?

Pachall didn't throw a football or lift from October to January while he was in treatment, and re-joined the team as the semester began, but practices didn't begin until March. That's a long time without playing the game at full speed, and we saw Boykin make great strides late in the season as a passer.

Pachall's ceiling is significantly higher, but it's also entirely possible that the time away put a major dent in Pachall's mastery of the offense and his own throwing mechanics.

Call me crazy, but I buy what Patterson is selling at this point in the spring about Boykin and Pachall being very close, close enough to cause some debate about who the starter will be.

Will time working over the summer with his receivers in 7-on-7 change that, along with more practices in fall camp? I'm sure Patterson hopes so, and I expect that to be the case. For now, though, I don't believe Patterson is blowing smoke about who TCU's best quarterback is at this exact moment.

You can expect to see plenty more stories on TCU in the days and weeks to come, but I heard from a few of you who didn't necessarily agree with Gary Patterson in the first of those stories on the blog.

Here's what he had to say that got a few of you fired up:

"I think we gained a lot more respect fan-wise from being 7-5 than a being 11-2 beating Boise State at Boise State, which to me is an unbelievable win," Patterson told ESPN.com in a recent interview. "To me, that speaks volumes to where we’re at and I think our kids should to understand that, what we’re doing." ...

"Everybody was wondering how we could handle things on a week to week basis, and I thought we, except for one half of football against Oklahoma State, we felt like we were in every ball game that you had," Patterson said.

It's an interesting debate. I'll put my cards on the table: I strongly agree with Patterson's assertion. As for what I saw on the field, I'd say the accomplishments Patterson is noting are about equal, but managing to go 7-5 considering all the personnel losses is what makes it more impressive to me.

Fans noticed, and I've heard from plenty of you who are on board with Patterson's assertion over the past few months.

But let's take a vote. The Frogs went 11-2 in 2011, losing two heartbreakers beginning with an early-season loss in Waco to Baylor, led by eventual Heisman winner Robert Griffin III. A second midseason loss came at the hands of rival SMU on the road in overtime, a team I'd say TCU underestimated a bit. It knocked off Boise and beat a good Louisiana Tech team in the Poinsettia Bowl.

This season, TCU earned big wins against Texas, Baylor and West Virginia, but suffered close losses to Texas Tech and Oklahoma before a heartbreaker in the bowl game against Michigan State.

As a Big 12 fan, which season impressed you more? Vote in our poll.