TCU basketball is better than anyone expected under Jamie Dixon. Here’s why.

Make no mistake about it — a new era of TCU basketball is well underway. A new arena, a new coach in Jamie Dixon, and a new on-court product quite contrary to the cellar-dwelling Horned Frogs of recent memory. Eight games into the season, TCU is among 11 teams still boasting an unblemished record, but these aren’t the same Horned Frogs that bottomed out after a 13-0 start two seasons ago.

It’s far from a polished product, but Dixon has TCU doing a lot of things right and an undefeated run through non-conference play is now visible.

What’s been the difference in a team currently ranked sixth in RPI and the program that’s previously slogged through an 8-64 conference record since joining the Big 12?

It’s healthy, experienced, and finally deep with quality talent, which has been evident in a few outcome-altering facets of the game.

While many programs suffer though the absence of a quality point guard, Dixon currently has two capable floor generals in sophomore Alex Robinson and freshman Jaylen Fisher.

Robinson and Fisher have emerged as a tremendous source of point production on a team lacking a true primary scoring option. Per 40 minutes, Robinson and Fisher contribute 35.5 points and 14.8 assists, which largely aids in five other teammates scoring at least 7.9 points per game.

Behind the passing prowess of its two floor generals, TCU has dished out more assists than seven of its eight opponents, with UNLV being the exception, while committing fewer turnovers in every game except its first meeting with Washington. As a result, TCU ranks No. 29 in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.38) and No. 24 in assists per game (17.6). Robinson, a former Texas A&M transfer, is tied for second in the Big 12 with 5.3 assists per game.

A telltale sign of a team’s quality depth is found in its bench production. TCU has checked that box during the early portion of the season.

In each of its eight games, TCU’s bench has outperformed its opponent’s bench and it isn’t close. Courtesy of a rotation that’s legitimately nine-deep with quality talent, the Horned Frogs’ reserves have outscored opponent’s backups 124-to-57 in the last three games, 201-to-78 in the last five, and 293-to-129 for the entire season — a +164 edge.

When the bench is scoring 36.6 points per game and 20.5 more than the opponent’s bench each time out, it provides a considerably advantage. This has proved true throughout the 8-0 start.

TCU isn’t exactly Press Virginia, but the Horned Frogs are turning opponents over at a rapid rate and it’s played a substantial role in their 8-0 record. An active TCU defense led by the quick hands of Robinson’s 2.8 steals per game currently ranks seventh in the nation with 10 acts of thievery each time out. Despite lacking the talent level and athleticism Kentucky possesses, TCU is forcing turnovers at the same rate with 18.8 per game, which is tied with the Wildcats for seventh and speaks to a well-coached club in Fort Worth.

The Horned Frogs have forced at least 15 turnovers in six of their eight games, headlined by Alabama State’s 22 giveaways and 25 more by Washington.

The result of forcing the opposition into so many empty possessions — many of which lead to fast break scoring opportunities — is a +6.1 turnover margin, the 10th-best effort in the NCAA.

We’re still in the earliest stages of a new-look TCU program headed in the right direction, but there’s good reason to believe 2016-17 may soon be looked back upon as the season that changed the basketball landscape in Fort Worth. While this may not be cause to invest stock in TCU coming for Kansas’ throne in the near future, it’s also time to quit betting against a team that was picked to finish dead last in the 10-team Big 12 this season.