Sports briefs

TCU signs Patterson to contract extension

FORT WORTH, Texas — TCU coach Gary Patterson agreed Wednesday to a new contract that will keep him with the BCS-bound Horned Frogs through the 2016 season.

Patterson, who had been mentioned as a possible candidate to fill the Notre Dame vacancy, has guided fourth-ranked TCU to five 11-win seasons the past seven years. TCU just completed its first undefeated regular season since 1938, when it won its only national championship.

"Like I've said many times, I don't think people understand what kind of place TCU and Fort Worth is," Patterson said. "This was my first head coaching job, but it also, now going into 12 years, it's my home."

TCU (12-0, 8-0 Mountain West) will find out Sunday which of the big-money Bowl Championship Series games it will play in. The Frogs are fourth in the BCS standings, the highest ever this late in the season for a team from a conference without an automatic bid.

Patterson, 49, has an 85-27 record in his ninth season at TCU, which wrapped up the Mountain West title with a 51-10 victory over New Mexico on Saturday. It was the Frogs' seventh consecutive victory by at least 27 points, a stretch that included BYU and Utah, last year's BCS buster. The Frogs have a 14-game winning streak, matching the seven decade-old school record set in 1938 when Heisman Trophy winner Davey O'Brien was their quarterback. Chris Del Conte, who took over as TCU's athletic director only six weeks ago, said he had not been contacted by Notre Dame or any other schools about talking to Patterson.

"We weren't going to wait until the fight came to us," Del Conte said. "I wanted to make sure they knew we wanted to keep them. That's why we acted swiftly and quickly."

Patterson was named this week as the Mountain West coach of the year, and TCU swept all the individual awards as well. Quarterback Andy Dalton was named the league's offensive player of the year, standout end Jerry Hughes got the defensive award and returner Jeremy Kerley was recognized for special teams.

There is still a chance the Frogs could be the first BCS buster to play for the national championship if No. 3 Texas loses to Nebraska in the Big 12 championship game Saturday night and they stay ahead of Cincinnati in the final BCS standings. The other spot will be filled by No. 1 Florida or No. 2 Alabama, who face off in the SEC championship game.

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