1938
Dutch Meyer’s title
An 11-0 season under Dutch Meyer brought TCU the 1938 national title
Program prestige
Zeitgeist staturePower Program IIIone line from Power Program II
Program outlook
Program outlook
TCU was left out when the SWC died in 1996 — no Big 12 seat, no invitation, just the WAC. Twenty-six years later the Horned Frogs played for the national championship. Sonny Dykes just got extended through 2028. Back-to-back 9-4 seasons were already the question; opening 2026 with a 15-10 loss to North Carolina in Dublin, as a touchdown favorite, asked it louder.
Since Oct 28: W 22-16 vs Kansas. 4-4 this season.
Read the full essay — 5 more paragraphs
The 2022 run is the franchise moment, but it lives on a foundation built from grievance. When the Southwest Conference collapsed, Texas and Texas A&M took the Big 12 seats and TCU was left to wander — the WAC, then Conference USA, then the Mountain West — a decade and a half of conference exile that the fanbase in Fort Worth never quite forgot. The 2012 Big 12 invite was vindication of sorts; the 2022 national title-game appearance, in Sonny Dykes's very first season, was a verdict. The sport owed Fort Worth, and Fort Worth collected.
The two seasons after have been 9-4, 9-4 — Alamo Bowl wins, a No. 25 finish, a contract extension for Dykes in April 2026, and now a quarterback question. Josh Hoover transferred to Indiana; Dykes replaced him with Harvard's Jaden Craig, who threw for 2,869 yards and 25 touchdowns in the Ivy League in 2025. The Big 12 and the Ivy League are different sports, and Craig will be the most-scrutinized transfer-portal experiment in Fort Worth in some time. The first look, in the Aer Lingus Classic in Dublin, was rough: ten points, all of them in the opening quarter, eleven penalties, and a 15-10 loss to a North Carolina team TCU was favored to beat by a touchdown — the Frogs went scoreless for the final 49 minutes.
The 2026 season answers the question the title-game run left open: is TCU a 13-2 program that had two quiet years, or a 9-4 program that had one transcendent one? The Davey O'Brien Award goes to a quarterback every year, named for the Heisman winner who played in Fort Worth in 1938. The Horned Frogs produce history; what Craig produces is what 2026 is about.
The Week 4 trip to UCF delivered a second version of the same result: a 21-13 road loss on September 26, again as a favorite (3.5 points), and again an offense that couldn't find the end zone when it mattered. Two defeats as the favorite through four games is exactly the '9-4 program that had one transcendent year' shape the opener warned about.
Update (Oct. 28, 2026): TCU is 3-4. Since then it lost 17-10 to BYU on Oct. 3 and 24-20 to West Virginia on Oct. 24. The Oct. 24 loss to West Virginia came as a 10-point favorite.
On the field
Fort Worth pragmatic — opportunistic, defense-rooted, and allergic to being underestimated. Dykes's system is spread-RPO with enough tempo to stress zone coverages, and the defensive identity under his staff has been bend-without-breaking rather than pure aggression. Amon G. Carter Stadium is intimate and loud, and the fanbase carries the chip of a program that survived four conference moves and reached a title game. The identity is earned stubbornness.
TCU has won 1 national title since 1936
1938
How titles are counted
The final AP poll from 1936 and the Coaches poll from 1950 through 2005, then the winner of the BCS and College Football Playoff title games. A program may claim others, named by selectors we do not count.
- 1938: AP poll
TCU has won 53% of its games since 1903 — 60% at home, 46% on the road.
688-569-50 all-time · 123 seasons · 1903–2026
Home
364-213-25
Away
301-334-24
Neutral
23-22-1
42%
1900s
48%
1910s
62%
1920s
72%
1930s
47%
1940s
57%
1950s
40%
1960s
24%
1970s
31%
1980s
45%
1990s
77%
2000s
67%
2010s
61%
2020s
The CFP era
13 seasons inside the CFP era, no bids yet — the era the program is still trying to break into.
Trajectory · quality-score line · AP rank dotted · CFP bids marked · coach regimes ribboned
Program quality
AP rank (inverted)
CFP appearance
Swipe left for earlier seasons
TCU’s 2014–2026 record is 103-58.
Sonny Dykes
Sonny Dykes has held the program for 5 seasons — the era is established.
Era Sonny Dykes · 2022–presentPrev: Jerry Kill (2021)OC: A. J. Ricker (co) / Gordon SammisPrev OC: A. J. Ricker (co) / Kendal Briles (2023–2025)DC: Andy AvalosPrev DC: Joe Gillespie (2022–2023)
5
years · era
TCU and Baylor, meeting by meeting
TCU leads the series 61-50-5 (since 1903); TCU has won the last 2
2026: TCU won 17-6. After this game, TCU led 61-50-5.
Last 25 meetings: ▲ TCU won, ▼ Baylor won, by how much
Each step is one meeting: up when TCU wins, down when Baylor wins, flat for a tie. Counts every game in our records since 1903. Tap the line for any season.
TCU in History
Moments in TCU history
- Kansas State 31, TCU 28Dr Pepper Big 12 Championship · Dec 3, 2022
- TCU 28, Baylor 21Nov 27, 2015
- Arkansas 41, TCU 38Sep 10, 2016
What this program never forgets
Most weeks vanish. These didn’t.
1996
The SWC collapse
The conference dissolves and TCU is left out of the Big 12, beginning the exile years
Wound
The 2011 Rose Bowl
TCU caps a perfect season with a Rose Bowl win over Wisconsin
The 2022 title-game run
Sonny Dykes's first team reaches the national championship game
Moment of the year · 2026
Lost 10-17 vs BYU
Week 5 of 2026. The single game that defined the season's arc.
2023–2026
TCU has sent 16 players to the NFL Draft since 2023 — one of them in the first round.
Strong. 1 first-round picks. Recruits with NFL ambitions notice.
16
picks · 1 in round 1
#21
Quentin Johnston
Wide Receiver · 2023 · 
Los Angeles Chargers · #34/488 final season
Los Angeles Chargers · #34/488 final season
#36
Steve Avila
Offensive Guard · 2023 · 
Los Angeles Rams
Los Angeles Rams
#58
Jack Bech
Wide Receiver · 2025 · 
Las Vegas Raiders · #26/466 final season
Las Vegas Raiders · #26/466 final season
#42 all-time · 17 first-round picksthe talent factory →
More in this tab
Program facts
Program résumé
1CFP apps
Ladder finish
Season standing · 2026 · 4-4
Season standing · 2026 · 4-4TCU is 4-4 — competitive, unranked, not yet bowl-eligible.
Competitive in FBS but not bowl-eligible — the close-loss tier.
FBS competitive
Sub-FBSBuildingBowlRankedContenderPlayoff
Conference
Big 12 standing · 2026
11th in the Big 12
TCU is 11th of 16 in the Big 12 at 2-3. The path to the title is steep — the focus is on bowl access and rivalry wins.
| # | Program | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Utah | 5-0 |
| 2 | BYU | 4-1 |
| 3 | Texas Tech | 4-1 |
| 4 | Arizona | 3-2 |
| 5 | Baylor | 3-2 |
| 6 | Houston | 3-2 |
| 7 | Oklahoma State | 3-2 |
| 8 | Arizona State | 2-3 |
| 9 | Cincinnati | 2-3 |
| 10 | Iowa State | 2-3 |
| 11 | TCU | 2-3 |
| 12 | UCF | 2-3 |
| 13 | West Virginia | 2-3 |
| 14 | Colorado | 1-4 |
| 15 | Kansas | 1-4 |
| 16 | Kansas State | 1-4 |
Coaching history
Coaching history
- Hired Sonny Dykes
- Hired Jerry Kill
- Gary Patterson departs
- Jerry Kill departs
- Hired Gary Patterson
- Dennis Franchione departs
- Hired Dennis Franchione
- Pat Sullivan departs
Coordinator lineage
TCU’s offense and defense, by coordinator
FBS-relative efficiency percentile per season (2014–2026), same population as the Coordinator Mirror board. Dashed vertical lines mark a coordinator change.
Offense2014–2026
2014–2016 · Doug Meacham (co) / Sonny Cumbie (co)2017–2019 · Curtis Luper (co) / Sonny Cumbie (co)2020 · Sonny Cumbie2021 · Doug Meacham2022 · A. J. Ricker (co) / Garrett Riley2023–2025 · A. J. Ricker (co) / Kendal Briles2026 · A. J. Ricker (co) / Gordon Sammis
Defense2014–2026
2014 · Dick Bumpas2015 · Chad Glasgow (co) / DeMontie Cross (co)2016–2021 · Chad Glasgow2022–2023 · Joe Gillespie2024–2026 · Andy Avalos
Elite (≥70th pct)AveragePoor (≤30th pct)
Gameday customs
Rituals
Three gameday rituals — the ones outsiders never quite catch.
Riff Ram Bah Zoo
since 1939
more
The fight chant: 'Riff Ram Bah Zoo, Lickety Lickety Zoo Zoo!' Nonsense syllables that became iconic, sung in unison by 50,000 purple-shirted fans. The most-cited 'how do you cheer for a horned frog' answer.
Horned Frog Mascot
since 1897
more
The Texas horned lizard (a real animal that 'cries blood' as defense) is one of the most-mocked mascots in CFB — and TCU fans embrace that. The 2010s 'Hypnotoad' meme became unironically the fan-voice; SuperFrog the actual mascot is gold.
Helmet Logo Vegetation
since 2010s
more
TCU has worn helmet decals featuring real Texas vegetation — bluebonnets, prickly pear, Texas Sage. The state-flora-in-helmet tradition expanded the program's regional identity beyond the horned frog.
Cultural identity
2025 W
2024 W
2022 L
2022 W
2018 WReddit blowups
r/CFB moments
3.5k
[Postgame Thread] TCU Defeats USC 30-27 (OT)
1.3k
[Postgame Thread] SMU Defeats TCU 41-38
861
[Postgame Thread] SMU Defeats TCU 42-34
All-time top community posts
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