TCU went undefeated at 13-0 last year to wind up No. 2 in the polls after beating Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl. Next year, the Horned Frogs move to the Big East, but for now they have one more season in the Mountain West, which begins Friday night on the road against in-state rival and Big 12 member Baylor.

Gary Patterson joined ESPN Dallas with Galloway and Company to discuss being rated the top coach in college football, a Baylor player guaranteeing a victory over TCU in Friday night’s season opener, how he thinks his young team will play in the opener, what he expects from first-year starting quarterback Casey Pachall, his reaction to what’s going on in college football across the state of Texas, if TCU is better off because it didn’t get to join the Big 12 and how his team can put up an encore after last year.

On the Sports Illustrated ranking that listed him as the top coach in college football:

“I was very honored that my peers thought that. Those are the guys that count. Every day you watch them work. They know things behind the scenes. It was just really good to know that somebody was paying attention. That means I’ve got a great staff and great players. That’s how you get those awards, you’ve got to win.”

Did you see the quote from the Baylor player this week basically guaranteeing a victory?:

“We did. The interesting thing I thought was Baylor said all week was the mistake they made last year was they were overconfident. So I’m just interested in what’s changed. I know there’s Baylor fans listening, but I’m just being honest. We understand we have a younger football team and I understand how first games go. We’ve got a lot of players that played in the Rose Bowl. TCU’s going to show up.”

How have your young guys responded in getting ready for tonight’s game?:

“Back when Andy Dalton was a redshirt freshman, we were really young then, too. That class kept progressively getting older and more mature and more ready to play in big games. I see a lot of similarities. The only difference is Casey Pachall isn’t a redshirt freshman; he’s been here three years. … We’re going to see how this team grows up.”

What do you expect from Pachall, taking over for Andy Dalton in this environment?:

“I don’t know. I tell people all the time, I don’t judge quarterbacks until I get done on Saturday. It’ll be interesting. I don’t think he’s going to be as nervous as what Andy was as a redshirt freshman. That year … we beat Baylor 27-0. And I don’t expect the score to be like that either. … It’s going to be one of those unbelievable first ballgames.”

What are the similarities and differences between Dalton and Pachall?:

“He has a stronger arm, runs probably just as good or better and has been in the system longer. … We’ll see what happens with Casey Pachall as he goes and we’ll all know the story when we get to the end of Friday night.”

What’s your reaction to the changes in the college football landscape in the state of Texas?:

“I really haven’t had a chance to think about it a whole lot, but I really think you’ve got to be careful what you wish for sometimes. I’ll just sit back and watch. Everyone else seems to have an opinion about it. I just need to have an opinion about whether we win or lose. … I would hate to see that whole thing with Texas Tech and Baylor be torn apart.”

Has the Big 12 called you about possibly coming in?:

“No. Even if they did, I wouldn’t have the time to return the call anyway.”

Is the school and the program better off that it didn’t get into the Big 12 when it formed?:

“I think it allowed TCU to grow up. … Next year, when we go to the Big East, it’ll be our fifth conference in the 14 years I’ve been here. We’ve definitely moved around and I tell people it’s not one of the easiest things to do. … But, up to this point, we’ve made really good decisions and every time we’ve changed conferences it’s been for the best. … We tried to make sure we didn’t move too fast, we did the things we needed to do, we put things in place as a foundation to help ourselves. Hopefully we’ll keep making those kind of decisions as we go forward.”

How do you follow up a season in which you won the Rose Bowl?:

“We want to get back to those games. Getting back to those games is a high pyramid. … Obviously play for a national championship at some point in time. But I think the biggest thing about our program is to develop consistency, that you don’t ever drop below .500 in a season and hopefully never get below 8-4. … That’s how you judge people. If you look at all the great, storied programs in the country … groups that have done it year after year after year.”

Listen to Gary Patterson on ESPN Dallas here

Quarterback Andy Dalton certainly fits in that boat. The TCU product has seen his name involved with so many teams he’s probably forgotten a few that are on the list. He was once thought of as a probable late first-round pick, and could still wind up going there, but news has come out this week that he may go much earlier.

His selection hinges on whether Carolina drafts Cam Newton with the top overall pick, but don’t be surprised if Dalton winds up hearing his name called amongst the first 10 picks. Then again, don’t be surprised if it isn’t, either.

Andy Dalton joined The Dan Patrick Show to discuss what he’s hearing about when he’ll be picked, his draft party, if he was asked during pre-draft meetings about his red hair, the most personal question he was asked, what the players do this year after they’re drafted and where he thinks he and his fiancee will be moving.

What is he hearing in terms of where he could go in the draft?:

“I’ve heard all over the place, so I don’t really know what to believe and what not. So I’m just going in just excited to get the opportunity to get drafted.”

How, then, do you plan a draft party if you don’t know when to tell people to come over?:

“Right, it’s definitely something that we’re going to celebrate what’s going on. It’s a chance for me to get drafted, something that everybody’s excited about and something that I’ve worked very hard for. … It’s a celebration in that. How long we have to wait, we don’t know, but it’s going to be fun just to hang out and see what happens.”

How many questions has he had from NFL-related people about his red hair?:

“I really haven’t gotten any. I guess the only one is ‘Who has been the most successful red-headed quarterback?’ … No one has really brought it up. Obviously that report came out that one coach said that, but I didn’t even see exactly what was said. … I don’t think my red hair is going against me.”

What was the most personal question he was asked?:

“There wasn’t one thing that stood out. Everybody tries to get to know you and see your personality and try to get your background and all that kind of stuff. But there’s not one question that sticks out.”

What will he do when the draft is over?:

“That’s the thing that I’m not exactly sure and we’re trying to figure out was what’s going to happen with everything. Right now I’m not exactly sure what’s going to happen.”

Has he spoken with his fiancee about where he thinks they’re going to move after the draft?:

“We’ve had [that conversation] but it doesn’t matter where we think we’re going because we don’t get to pick. We’ll find out.”

Is he a fan of any team?:

“Being in Texas, I watched the Cowboys and when the Texans came, I followed the Texans. But I never had a team that was like my team, that I was a huge fan of.”

Listen to Andy Dalton on The Dan Patrick Show here

While he’s probably gone a little overboard in the past in saying that he doesn’t lobby — usually while he’s basically lobbying — Patterson takes the high road in the following interview, and why not?

He’s taken TCU from also-ran, to the BCS, to now a BCS bowl game victory. Next up? Finally a shot in the title game? Maybe not. He’s going to lose a lot of great players, but then again, with a Big East move looming, we haven’t likely seen the last of the Horned Frogs in BCS games.

Gary Patterson joined ESPN Radio with Scott Van Pelt and Ryen Russillo to discuss what it was like to win the Rose Bowl and go undefeated, if he’ll always wonder how his team would have fared against Oregon or Auburn, a senior class that took the Horned Frogs to great heights and his attempt to get out of the Gatorade bath.

On what it felt like to win the Rose Bowl and go undefeated:

“I had to tell myself, ‘We just won the Rose Bowl.’ I’ve been waiting for the dream and just to wake up. It was just a great time. The people out there were fantastic. I understand why, for so many years, I watched the game. … To know now that we left and will be on the wall as a Rose Bowl winner is something that will never be taken away from us.”

On if he’ll always wonder what would happen if his team could play Oregon or Auburn:

“I think all of us think about it, but like I said, I’ve never been a whiner or complainer. This is the way the system is and this is the rules. Those are the two teams that are also undefeated that are going to get a chance to play in it. … Six years ago … we were just going to try to get to a BCS game and now we’ve been to two in a row. Now, our goal someday, I think, is to get the opportunity to play in a national championship game.”

On having a group of seniors that led his program to this point:

“I do believe that this group was a special group that we brought together. I think that comes about with all of it is that they’ve been a product of the environment we’ve tried to build here. Not just to be good players, but also to be good people.”

On not wanting the Gatorade bath:

“I actually told a fib, too. I turned and I said, ‘Look, gentlemen, I kind of feel like I have a fever. Don’t be making me sick.’ Then I said, ‘Ha! Gotcha’ They did get me and it was cold.”

Listen to Gary Patterson on ESPN Radio here (Interview starts about 10:30)

Hancock joined KTAR in Phoenix to talk about the final few weeks of the season, how he feels the BCS system has been sufficiently tweaked over the years, why he’s confident saying that college football is better off without a playoff system, how the system has incentivized teams to schedule well out of conference, the Cam Newton situation at Auburn, and the down year the Big East conference is having.

On heading into the home stretch of the 2010 College Football season with so much still to be determined and sorted out:

“It’s a great time of year. It’s the same every year – the same level of craziness. I’m always interested when people say ‘oh this is the goofiest year ever.’  It’s not. They’re all the same. They’re all great. It’s a little bit goofy, yeah, but they’re all great.”

On how close he feels to having a system that’s close to perfect at pitting the top two teams against one another in the final game:

“We’re pretty close if we’re not there. You know, in the first several years of the BCS, we kept making changes as we discovered there were little things that were wrong. That was all a part of the growing process. This is our 13th year, and I think we’ve just about got it right. Every year though at the end of the season, the commissioners – the 11 conference commissioners who manage the BCS – break it all down, look at it, discuss it, is there a better way. And I think one thing is that all those changes early on led to a little bit of a lack of  public understanding of how it all worked. Now that we’ve settled in and had the last five or six years of the same, I do think that the public is coming to a better understanding of it which is a good thing.”

On why he can confidently claim that NCAAFB is better off without a playoff system:

“Two things primarily. One, we have the best regular season of any sport. Really the only regular season that means a whole lot. It’s compelling, you have to tune in every week, or if you happen to go to the Galapagos one weekend, you’re going to miss something exciting. And so we need to do everything we can to preserve the importance of this regular season. It really is a treasure. And also preserving the Bowl system. With the Bowls in college football we have something unique. And it’s an experience the student-athletes will never, ever forget. They get to spend five, six, seven days in a different culture with their teammates and have a Bowl as a reward at the end of the season. We believe a playoff would diminish the regular season and end the Bowl system, certainly as we know it.”

On if he thinks teams have been properly incentivized to put together more challenging out-of-conference schedules since Auburn got shut out of the BCS title game in 2004 with an undefeated record:

“I think so. Anytime there’s undefeated teams, three or more undefeated teams, there’s going to  be controversy. And we get that. There would be controversy with any kind of a playoff – four teams, eight teams, sixteen teams. Somebody is going get left out; somebody’s not going to get paired with the team they want to get paired with. And you just aren’t going to avoid controversy in any kind of a playoff bracket, or any kind of a postseason event, no matter what it is. But one thing the BCS has done that I think a lot people miss out on is it’s enabled the growth of programs – Boise State, TCU, Utah of course has a nice tradition, and TCU does too. But the BCS allowed those to flourish. And I don’t think anyone would have thought 10, 15, 20 years ago that in the BCS, or any kind of national rankings – AP, Coaches, whatever – that you’d see TCU and Boise State 3 and 4 like they are this week. And that’s all happened because the BCS allowed it to happen, and created an environment where it could happen. And I’ll give you really the best example of that – because of the BCS, Boise State and Oklahoma were able to play in Phoenix, and Phoenix folks that saw the game know they witnessed one of the greatest games of all time. And it gave Boise State a platform to show what they can do, it gave them a beginning of a stage which they could build on in recruiting, and really created the brand of Boise State. And it only happened because the BCS, because that game would not have happened in the pre-BCS days. So the BCS has really been good for everyone.”

On how closely everybody, himself included, is watching the Cam Newton situation:

“Oh everyone’s watching it of course because it’s in the news. But the fact is nothing’s been proven. You’ve read all the comments, and I think people need to kind of step back and take a deep breathe and let things play out. My view of it at this point is the young man has not been treated well in the press. He’s denied things, people have denied him and yet it continues. Everyone needs to just sit back and let the process work its way out.”

On how concerned he is by the Big East’s mediocre year as a conference:

“Well, let me answer it this way – conferences earn their automatic berths over a four-year evaluation period. And the previous period which determined the AQs for this time, the Big East was way ahead of conference number seven. It wasn’t even close. And I think people need to think about and remember that last year there were clamors for Cincinnati, an undefeated Cincinnati, to be in the BCS Championship Game. And now all of a sudden, because of one year, people are looking down their nose at the Big East. They’re not having the kind of year the want, of course. They keep knocking each other off, and I just think it’s important to remember that the automatic qualification is not a one-year arrangement. It’s a four-year arrangement. Every conference has peaks and valleys, and this is the system that we have.”

Listen here to Hancock with Gambo & Ash on KTAR in Phoenix

Heck, there’s even some chance that the winner ends up playing for the national championship.

Just for a little icing on the cake, ESPN College Gameday will be broadcasting from Salt Lake City, but that’s been far from the most distracting thing this week for the Horned Frogs. With the Big East looking to move to a 10-team football conference, TCU’s name has been thrown around plenty.

If the Horned Frogs are thinking about following Utah right on out of the Mountain West, Gary Patterson’s not ready to spill the beans.

TCU coach Gary Patterson joined ESPN Radio with The Scott Van Pelt Show to discuss his team’s stout defense, quarterback Andy Dalton, how the rise in the BCS has changed TCU’s fanbase, how the Horned Frogs have rebounded after losing guys who went in the NFL draft, if TCU should be in the title game if it remains undefeated and the potential move to the Big East (hint: he doesn’t say much about it).

On the key to becoming the top-ranked scoring defense in the country:

“Number one, a lot of it has to do with our offense. It’s really controlled the football. If you only have to play 50 to 60 plays a game, it gives you an opportunity to be a lot better than you do if you play 80 or 90. I think our kids have kind of grown up. Early in the season, we were giving up easy touchdowns because we weren’t hunting together. We’ve done a really good job of coming together.”

On quarterback Andy Dalton:

“I think any coach in the country would tell you, [they'd like to have] a fifth-year quarterback that’s won as many ballgames as he has. He’s 33-3, or whatever it is, in the last X amount of games that we’ve been a part of in the last three years. You know on and off the field he’s going to handle himself in the right way. He’s the coach’s dream.

On how things have changed now that TCU has established itself as a premier program:

“I tell you what has happened. … I think 13 years ago, when we came here, I think they were averaging 12 or 13,000. I think we’re going to end up averaging almost 42,000 a game here at home. Only 8,000 students, because being a private school, and knowing there’s only X amount of alumni in the Metroplex, for us to average that many, that means we’ve acquired Frog fans that graduated from other schools. … I’m sure that bar has been raised. It used to be win or tie and now it’s just win.”

On how the Horned Frogs rebounded from losing guys to the NFL Draft:

“Obviously, as a head coach, when you lose a first- and a second-round draft choice that made as many plays as Jerry Hughes and Darryl Washington did, and two senior corners, you’d be concerned. We’ve been able to side-step some of those things. … They’ve kind of grown up and it’s been more of a play defense by committee, where everybody’s had their part. We still have some good players, some guys that are still gonna get drafted, some guys that are still gonna graduate, but as a general rule, we’ve stepped up.”

On whether the Horned Frogs deserve a title shot if they finish undefeated:

“Obviously I’m going to stick up for my kids. If, at the end of the season, we can be unbeaten, then I think you can have a strong conversation and you can see where everybody else is. But you know me, I’ve always been honest about my team and always been honest about the game and where everybody sits. At that point, if we could be in that position and I watch how everybody else plays of those teams that will be at the top in the next four weeks and kind of conclude what I think. If I think that we belong when I see the other three, four, five teams play, and believe that we can play with any of them and should have that opportunity, then I’ll say so. If not, I’ll say we’re a good football team and we deserve to be in a BCS game, but by not choosing us, they made the right decision. … But I’m going to stick up for my football team and if they keep playing like they are, I’d say that I’d probably say, yes, we should have that opportunity.”

On the Big East rumors:

“Don’t start me in that conversation, I’m just trying to beat Utah. … Right now, there’s only one thing that’s been on my mind and that’s the Utah Utes. … Right now it’s for the betterment of my team and my fans. I’d be doing them a disservice if I did think about anything else.”

Listen to Gary Patterson on ESPN Radio here (Interview begins at 34:40)

Patterson has led TCU to its first undefeated season since 1938, its second Mountain West conference title and its first BCS Bowl Game. What an accomplishment for a coach and team that had to replace seven starters on defense that was one of the best in the country in 2008. Boise State is also coming into the game undefeated and looking for revenge from last season. This game is sure to be entertaining in what is two college football programs that are on the rise. The only problem that I have with this matchup is that they are both from non-BCS conferences playing each other in a BCS Bowl game. I am not saying that they shouldn’t be here it is just that I would have liked to see how these two schools matchup against BCS-conference schools so that they can showcase their talent and know that they are for real. I think the Broncos from Boise State will win this game by a field goal late in the game. But then again, I have been horrible picking bowl games this year.

Gary Patterson joined XTRA Sports 910 in Phoenix with Bickley and MJ to talk about the disappointment of not making the BCS Championship game after going undefeated, the Mountain West Conference and how far it has come, and how he prepares for Boise State.

On the disappointment of not making the BCS Championship game after going undefeated:

“You know I don’t think there is any disappointment. We would like to play in the National Championship like anybody else just we are competitors but we have got a great opponent ranked the top five or six in the nation, we are at the Fiesta Bowl and have got the hospitality as good as anywhere in the nation, maybe the best and a chance to play on the big stage. We are really excited about it.”

On the Mountain West Conference and how far it has come:

“Well it has and it is becoming important to all of us. We all root for each other. It has really become quite a year and I was excited for Air Force and the way they played. I didn’t get a chance to watch the ball game yet. I am just looking at how they intercepted the Houston quarterback six times and had almost six hundred yards of total offense. That is what you want. People will remember your last ball game and at this point the Mountain West is 4-0.”

Whether he would have believed four or five years ago that he would have TCU in a BCS game:

“Oh no we had facilities to build and a lot of different things to do. We kept creeping closer and closer. About every thirty minutes I have got to pinch myself to believe that I am here right now. I am like a kid in the candy store just really happy to do and our kids are practicing and such and we are doing what we are supposed to do and we are at the end of the season 13-0 and give ourselves a chance to start high next year in the rankings.”

On how he prepares for Boise State:

“The first thing that you have to do is stop the run. They will still run the football on everybody and we just got to stop what they do right now. If you can do that then you can prepare for some of that other stuff. We have to stop what they do right now. We have looked back through the years, back through four or five years of all the different gadgets and all the things they do. We are going to be prepared as possibly as we can be and be able to play in this ball game like we were a year ago.”

On what makes TCU so special to him:

“Just the people here. Anytime that you have a chance recruiting based wise and also you have an administration that is going to give you a chance to build facilities and do the things that you need to do and the quality of life. Anybody that has ever worked at TCU in Fort Worth it is probably one of the top two jobs they have ever had because of the people. We are just real excited about all of that. It has made me say this: It is going to be my thirteenth year coming out.”

The TCU Horned Frogs Head Coach and 2009 AP Coach of the Year joins the guys to help preview the Fiesta Bowl

TCU head coach Gary Patterson joined The Dan Patrick Show to talk about how he feels the Horned Frogs can compete with any team in America and why he believes there’s no sense in whining about the BCS system regardless of what happens with his team’s fate in the forthcoming days.

On who the best team in Texas is:

“There’s two good ones – Texas and TCU. It’s definitely a toss up.”

On wanting to get a crack at Texas:

“We always want to play the best. Every year we’ve played Oklahoma or Texas here in the last three, four years. We’ve got Oklahoma on the schedule, we’ve got LSU on the schedule down the road. So, you know, you’re always wanting to play the best because that’s how you put a measuring stick on your program.”

On whether he feels TCU deserves to play in the National Championship Game:

“Well I believe we can play with all of those who sit at the top, yes I do. Now, I’ve stayed far away from all that deserving stuff because I’ve never been one to believe it. I’ve always believed that the football gods will come back to haunt you. So for me, we feel like we have a good football team and the only way you can really speak is when you get a chance to do it on the field.”

On what he tells his kids about the BCS system:

“Well what I tell our kids and what I said when we got done with our last game – I’m not going to ruin a 12-0 season, the first one in 70-some years. Our goal was to get to a BCS game by as soon as I got there, and everybody started talking about well we may not get a chance to play for a National Championship. But the same thing I think we said about getting to a BCS game – everybody said it’s hard to do and we’d never get a chance to do it and we did it. And I tell them the same thing now that I told them about that – we’re just going to keep knocking on the door until one day we get that opportunity.”

On whether or not he thinks the BCS system is fair and equitable:

“Well like I’ve said many times – it doesn’t do any good to be a whiner. I think all of us have been there before, this is not something that just happens in football, this is something that happens in life. Where you do great in business or whatever you do, and you come up a little bit short, they give someone else the contract or whatever else happens. I think what you have to do is know what you’ve done in your mind, and how can you get better and how can you get back to it. I think there’s great possibilities on both sides. You know, in some ways, even a playoff system’s not fair because of the kind of competition you have to do on a weekly basis for three or four weeks. You may not have the players and the best team may not play in the National Championship Game anyway, just for the simple reason that – take Miami when they played in the National Championship Game. If that had been the first round of the playoffs, they lost three, four, five guys including their starting tailback and they wouldn’t have been the same football team. So there’s a lot of different ways to look at it. I think the BCS is a good way. Everybody would argue that there’s a better way, but I think everything has its pros and cons.”

Listen here to Patterson on The Dan Patrick Show