Three games, three losses. It has been a rough ride since a 65-foot prayer from Caleb Love. Three straight losses, all by double digits. The most recent one is probably the most understandable. I will say, this is a great year to win at Kansas if you’re going to do it, West Virginia and Houston have already done so.

Bill Self, however, is 38-0 in Phog-Allen on Big Monday. Just another Monday in just another gym. It was a relatively short-lived game, a crazy sequence that led to a KJ Adams half court alley-oop late in the first half was about the end of competitiveness. Iowa State lost 69-52 and scored less than 1 point per possession.

Jamie Dixon’s club comes into this game 12-10 on the year, and 5-6 in conference play. Dixon has done an incredible job making the Horned Frogs competitive in the Big 12, but the stars haven’t aligned this year.

The Frogs are 1-4 on the road in the Big 12. Their best win is a shocker in Waco where TCU won 74-71. The Horned Frogs also picked up a signature win their last time out against a ferocious Javon Small game. TCU really relies on their defense and are an abysmal 298th in offensive effective field goal percentage. TCU is a top 35 defense according to KenPom.

Ernest Udeh Jr. is at the forefront of the Horned Frog defense. The 6’11 center leads TCU in rebounds (7.9), blocks (1.5) and steals (1.8). Dishon Jackson and Joshua Jefferson will have to finish the easy ones they get around the rim which could be few and far between.

Udeh isn’t much of an offensive threat, but he is a disruptor in the paint. His best game coincided with that win against Baylor where he had 16 points and 15 rebounds along with 4 blocks.

Please Cyclones. Iowa State is a 16.5-point favorite, which is uncomfortably close to how much the Cyclones were favored by last Saturday in a 19-point loss. So, let’s not do that again. Iowa State, on paper, is a much better team. And I don’t expect TCU to find their groove on offense against a top 10 defense on the road.

Iowa State needs to get back on track, and I expect them to do just that.

Iowa State- 72

TCU- 53

When: 11am February, 8th

Where: Hilton Coliseum, Ames, Iowa

Why is College Gameday at this game: No idea