College Football Playoff odds: TCU still betting long shot for national semifinals despite sitting fourth in rankings

The biggest winner of the new College Football Playoff rankings this week had to be TCU, which jumped three spots from the previous week to No. 4 heading into its big game Saturday at No. 18 Texas. If the unbeaten Horned Frogs win out, they'll surely be in the playoff field, yet Caesars Sportsbook oddsmakers still list Sonny Dykes' team as a +550 longer shot to get in with No at -800. That's probably because TCU is a 7-point underdog against the Longhorns

"They've got six wins over teams who are .500 or better," CFP chair Boo Corrigan, the athletic director at NC State, said on the ESPN telecast regarding the Horned Frogs jumping to fourth behind Georgia, Ohio State and Michigan. "As you know, we value wins."

TCU has needed multiple fourth-quarter comebacks to remain undefeated. That includes last Saturday at home against a mediocre Texas Tech squad, which led 20-17 early in the fourth. TCU would prevail 34-24 to reach 9-0 for the first time since 2010, a 13-0 season that ended with a Rose Bowl victory and No. 2 national ranking. Dykes is only the second head coach in TCU history, joining Francis Schmidt in 1929, to win his opening nine games. Those Frogs finished the season 9-0-1.

Dykes is the first coach in Big 12 history to be 9-0 in his first season. Four of TCU's wins this year are against teams they lost to by at least two scores last season, including three by at least three scores. Led by quarterback Max Duggan, who has been named a Maxwell Award semifinalist, TCU has 14 touchdowns of at least 50 yards, the most in the nation.

Duggan is fourth in the country in passing efficiency with a 179.7 rating while leading all Power 5 quarterbacks with 15 touchdown passes of at least 20 yards. He has accounted for three or more touchdowns in all but one start. TCU and Oregon are the only FBS teams averaging at least 285 passing yards and 200 rushing yards per game and have at least 20 passing and 20 rushing touchdowns.

TCU was seventh in the Big 12 preseason poll. The last time it was picked seventh was 2014, when it won the Big 12 championship. The only Big 12 school to reach the playoff is Oklahoma.

Since beginning Big 12 play in 2012, the Horned Frogs are 7-3 against Texas, with a 4-1 mark in Austin. The Longhorns did win last year 32-27 in Fort Worth. 

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