TCU conference-hopping runs to the title game
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — TCU had quite the conference-hopping journey on its way to the national championship game.
After the dissolution of the Southwest Conference, 16 seasons passed before the Horned Frogs were able to win or share titles in three different leagues. When four other Texas schools joined Big 12, the small, private school was also left out.
“It’s like that old song by Hank Snow, ‘I’ve Been Everywhere’ — our fans, they’ve traveled all over the place,” said John Denton, the Horned Frogs’ kicker for their 1984 Bluebonnet Bowl team who has been part of their radio broadcasts since 1988.
From the East Coast to Hawaii, they made stops at the Western Athletic Conference and Conference USA before finally being invited to join the Big 12 in 2012. After previously being either the easternmost, or the westernmost team in other conferences they now are the school closest to the league’s headquarters.
TCU (13-1), has travelled a long way to get them to this showdown Georgia (14-0), the defending national champion, in the title match Monday night in Inglewood (California). TCU boasts just over 10,000 students. That’s about one-third of Georgia’s main campus at Athens.
The Frogs defeated Michigan in their semifinals at the Fiesta Bowl. This was the same game they won the title of champions. BCS buster along with Boise State in 2009It was well before the current four-team playoff.
“We’re focused in on what we’re doing but we understand there’s been so many great teams that built this program to get to where we are,” Heisman Trophy runner-up quarterback Max Duggan said. “I’ve had guys from past teams that have been hitting me up and congratulating me, and they’re rooting for us … whether it’s teams back in the Southwest Conference, teams with Andy (Dalton), the 2014 team.”
The Frogs already match the school record for wins that was set in 2010 by Dalton, who was the quarterback. They went 13-0 with a Rose Bowl triumph and were No. 2 in the final AP Top 25 poll. It was the middle season of three consecutive seasons (2009-11), in which they didn’t lose any Mountain West league games before reaching the Big 12.
Within one month of their Rose Bowl win, the school had raised $30 million to pay for the $165 million reconstruction of Amon G. Carter Stadium. Their major conference move was made possible by both enrollment and fundraising.
It was also during a period when they had received an invitation to join Big East. However, they never played in the main basketball league that no more sponsors football.
TCU, at first, was part of SWC. It was then a 16 team conference. TCU now plays at Championship Subdivision after an eight-season hiatus. After four seasons in C-USA, there were four more seasons before the MWC title was won in seven seasons.
TCU’s 1997 bottom was 1-10. This was the second season following the SWC. Dennis Franchione was hired. The Frogs ended Dennis Franchione’s debut season with victory over Southern California in Sun Bowl. LaDainian Tomlinson (professor at the Pro Football Hall of Fame) was a sophomore. LT set a NCAA record for a 406 yard rushing game the following season and was the leading senior with 2,158 yards in 2000.
After Franchione moved to Alabama at the close of 2000, the school’s record 181 games were won by Gary Patterson, the new defensive coordinator. his departure with four games left in the 2021 season. Patterson coached the Frogs for 11 seasons, with at least 10 wins in total. The Frogs also finished in the AP Top 25 six more times during a 10-season span. They reached the Big 12 championship in 2017.
The one-loss Frogs won the Big 12 championship game, but there was no Big 12 regular-season title game. Baylor and the Frogs shared it with Baylor in 2014’s first season of the four-team College Football Playoff. The Frogs were ranked sixth in the final CFP rankings. They missed the inaugural playoff after finishing their regular season with a win of 55-3 over Iowa State.
Now, the Frogs have a chance at winning their first national championship. This is a long time since quarterback Davey O’Brien’s 1938 team finished No. 1 with 11-0. 1, for the only third title in the AP Poll era.
“It’s a big deal. You could make arguments that this team should have played for a national championship one more time, potentially two more times before this,” first-year coach Sonny Dykes said. “The landscape of college football has changed, and I think the perception of the Big 12 has changed. Still probably not what it needs to be, but it’s better. And I think all of that allowed us to get in the playoff, and then it was up to us to do something with that opportunity.”
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