Horned Frogs to have strong presence in Big 12 football

TCU entered its inaugural year in the Big 12 conference with three conference championships in the Mountain West. Sixteen years ago, the former 9-time Southwest Conference champions were cast aside when the newly formed Big 12 conference took only four teams from the former SWC (Texas, Texas Tech, Baylor and Texas A&M).

During those next 16 years, TCU competed in three different conferences (Mountain West, Western Athletic and Conference USA) and has won seven conference championships.

The Frogs have a chance to start some new rivalries and rekindle some old ones, the most notable of which is with Baylor, an ongoing series dating back to 1899. Games such as the West Texas Championship against Texas Tech, which last occurred in 2006, will be brought back in TCU’s inaugural season.

Since it’s five-game winning streak during the first year with the SWC in 1923, TCU’s success was reflected by the players but more so by the coaches. Matty Bell, Francis Schmidt, Dutch Meyer and Abe Martin were the four headed coaches at TCU, following the their entrance into the SWC over the next 43 years.

After TCU’s bittersweet departing from the SWC, a new set of coaches emerged to make the Horned Frog football the program it is today. After the convincing victory over Grambling State last week, TCU coach Gary Patterson clinched his 110th win to become the winningest coach in TCU history, passing Meyer’s 109 wins.

From the end of a 72-year membership with the SWC to the most recent Poinsettia Bowl victory in 2011, TCU’s move to the Big 12 is a return “home” for the Horned Frogs. And with the homecoming of sorts, the stadium the Frogs call “home,” Amon G. Carter Stadium, underwent a $164 million renovation process during the past two years.

Quick facts:

Location: Fort Worth, Texas
Founded: 1873
Enrollment: 9,518
Chancellor: Victor J. Boschini, Jr.
Athletics director: Chris Del Conte

- edited by Allison Kohn

• Updated Sep. 14, 2012 at 3:39 pm