Big 12 Basketball: 5 Way-Too-Early Bold Predictions for 2021-22
By John Scimeca
4. TCU fires head coach Jamie Dixon
Look, it’s nothing personal against the guy, but it’s hard to win in the Big 12. TCU’s basketball program will be looking for a new head coach in the spring of 2022.
Jamie Dixon, in his fifth season in charge of the Horned Frogs, has finished with a losing record in conference play for three straight years. He’s only made the NCAA Tournament once, a first-round loss as a No. 6 seed to No. 11 seed Syracuse in 2018. Through five years, he’s gone 34-54 in league play.
Dixon, age 56, is a heck of a coach — just look at his run at the helm of the Pittsburgh Panthers. Through 13 seasons, he amassed a 328-123 overall record while reaching the Big Dance in all but one of his years there. He reached three Sweet 16s and one Elite Eight (in 2009). OSU fans may remember that Dixon was in his first year coaching Pitt when it was a No. 3 seed facing the Cowboys in the Sweet 16. OSU defeated Dixon’s Panthers, 63-51, before going on to reach the 2004 Final Four behind John Lucas III and Joey Graham.
But wins are hard to come by in Fort Worth when you’re competing against the likes of Kansas, Oklahoma, and successful in-state rivals such as Texas, Baylor, and Texas Tech on a nightly basis. The 2009 National Coach of the Year may find it tough to compete at TCU, but he will land somewhere else and do well after another difficult season with the Horned Frogs.