The TCU Horned Frogs are the athletic teams that represent Texas Christian University. The 18 varsity teams participate in NCAA Division I and in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for football, competing mostly in the Big 12 Conference. The school was a founding member of the Southwest Conference and was a member of the Western Athletic Conference, Conference USA (CUSA), and the Mountain West Conference before joining the Big 12. One TCU team participates outside the Big 12 in a sport not sponsored by that conference. The rifle team competes in the Patriot Rifle Conference. The beach volleyball team formerly played in CUSA and the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association prior to the Big 12 sponsoring beach volleyball in 2024-25.
The "horned frog" nickname and mascot refer to the Texas horned lizard, also known as the "horned frog".
History Texas Christian University began its athletic life as an independent program with a six-year (1914–1920) stint in the Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association before eventually joining its longtime home, the Southwest Conference (SWC), in 1923. TCU remained a member of the SWC until it disbanded after the 1995–96 academic year when the University of Texas, Texas A&M University, Texas Tech University and Baylor University defected from the conference to form the Big 12 Conference together with the members of the Big Eight Conference; the University of Arkansas had previously left for the Southeastern Conference in 1990, in the aftermath of the Southern Methodist University football scandal, leaving the SWC with no presence outside of the state of Texas. The Horned Frogs, without a conference to call home after 72 years, joined the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), along with SMU and Rice. TCU called the WAC home from 1996 through 2000. In 2001, TCU joined Conference USA (CUSA) and remained there through 2004. TCU joined the Mountain West Conference (MWC) in 2005. In 2010, TCU accepted an invitation to join the Big East Conference in all sports starting in 2012; however, on October 10, 2011, TCU announced that it had reversed its decision and would be joining the Big 12 (headquartered in another Metroplex city, Irving) in 2012 instead, a move that went into effect July 1.
Sponsored sports Texas Christian University sponsors teams in nine men's and twelve women's NCAA sanctioned sports.
Baseball Basketball Basketball Beach volleyball Cross country Cross country Football Equestrian Golf Golf Swimming & diving Rifle Tennis Soccer Track and field† Swimming & diving Tennis Track and field† Volleyball
Football
The return of national prominence of TCU football began under the watch of Dennis Franchione when TCU defeated the Trojans of USC in the 1998 Sun Bowl. From 1939, the year after TCU's last national championship, to 1997, TCU's record was 314–383–24. In those 67 years, TCU won 6 Southwest Conference titles and attended 11 bowl games winning only one of those games. Since the 1998 season, TCU has won 7 conference titles, two in the Western Athletic Conference (1999 & 2000), one in Conference USA (2002), three in the Mountain West Conference (2005, 2009, and 2010) and the Big 12 Conference 2014 Co-Championship (with Baylor University). Since 1998, TCU has amassed a record of 79–30. In four of the last five years, the Horned Frogs have won at least 10 games in a season, and won 11 games in three of the last four. During this period TCU has won games against Louisville, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Utah and BYU. From 1998 to 2006, TCU has attended 8 bowl games, winning five of them. The record of TCU in bowl games as of 2006 is 9–13–1. TCU also claims two national championships from 1935 and 1938.NCAA Division I-A national football championship
TCU has 41 1st team All-Americans, listed at TCU Horned Frogs football. The school's most famous past players include Rags Matthews, Sammy Baugh, Davey O'Brien (a Heisman Trophy winner, and namesake of the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award), Johnny Vaught (later one of the most celebrated coaches of the University of Mississippi), Ki Aldrich, Darrell Lester, Jim Swink, Sonny Gibbs, Norm Bulaich, Bob Lilly, Kenneth Davis, 2006–07 NFL MVP LaDainian Tomlinson and two-time consensus All-American Jerry Gaither. TCU have achieved success under numerous coaches including Matty Bell, Dutch Meyer, Abe Martin, Dennis Franchione, and their longest-serving coach Gary Patterson. Gary Patterson received nine National Coach of the Year honors in 2009. Coaches Matthews, Baugh, O'Brien, Aldrich, Lester, Swink, Lilly, and Dutch Meyer are all members of the College Football Hall of Fame. Baugh and Lilly are also members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The TCU Football team plays its games in Amon G. Carter Stadium. The stadium opened in 1930 and has a capacity of 44,008.Amon G. Carter Stadium On December 5, 2010, the west wing of the Amon G. Carter Stadium was imploded in order accommodate 24 suites, including six Founder's suites on the lower level, and 2,300 club seats on the West side. Total cost of the renovation of Amon G. Carter Stadium is $105 million.
Baseball
TCU has fielded a baseball team since 1896, before the school found its home in Fort Worth, Texas. The Horned Frog baseball team began playing baseball in the Southwest Conference when it became a member of the conference in 1923.Wikipedia Southwest Conference Page That year they finished the year with a 13–11 overall record and a 2–10 conference record.TCU Baseball 2006 Media Guide TCU Baseball, p. 99 In 1933 Dutch Meyer, also the coach of the football team, led TCU to its first SWC title with a 9–1 record. During the rest of their time in the SWC, the Frogs would win 6 more regular-season SWC baseball titles. Their next conference championship would come while members of Conference USA in 2004 and 2005. 2006 saw the Horned Frogs in a new conference, the Mountain West Conference. The Frogs went 17–5 in their first year in the MWC and never left first place. They also only had to play 3 games in the conference tournament to win the MWC Tournament Title to complement the regular season title.
TCU has made 14 appearances in the NCAA baseball tournament: 1956, 1994, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, and 2016.TCU Baseball 2006 Media Guide TCU Baseball p.90-91, 99 TCU has 23 All-Americans, six Freshman All-Americans, three players of the year awards, two pitchers of the year, and numerous All-Conference selections. The TCU Baseball Team makes its home in Lupton Stadium, with a capacity of 3,500.
Men's basketball
TCU has played since the 1908–1909 season. That first year they entered the Waco City League and left with a record of 2–3, losing to the Baylor teams and defeating the Waco High teams.
The Horned Frogs played basketball in the Southwest Conference from the 1923–24 seasons until the breakup of the conference after the 1995–96 season. During their time in the SWC they won 10 conference titles (1931, 1934, 1951*, 1952, 1953, 1959, 1968, 1971, 1986*, 1987; * denotes shared title).2005–06 TCU Men's Basketball Media Guide p. 70 Buster Brannon owns the most wins as a coach in TCU Men's Basketball history with a career that spanned 20 years he earned a record of 205–259, a 104–144 record in SWC play, won 4 conference titles and earned three trips to the NCAA basketball tournament in 1952, 1953 and 1959.2005–06 TCU Men's Basketball Media Guide p.100 The TCU Men's Basketball Team would only win one more conference championship after the breakup of the Southwest Conference. During the 1997–98 season under Coach Billy Tubbs, the team went 27–6 and 14–0 in WAC play. The team earned a trip to the Midwest Regional played in Oklahoma City, OK. They would lose in the first round to Florida State. TCU never won a title during their time in Conference USA or the Mountain West Conference.
TCU's other NCAA tournament appearances occurred in 1968, 1971 and 1987, 2017, and 2022.
Along with NCAA Tournament appearances, TCU appeared in the National Invitational Tournament six times – 1983, 1986, 1992, 1997, 1999 and 2005. They advanced to the quarterfinal round three times – 1983, 1999 and 2005, and they won the NIT championship in 2017.
The TCU Men's Basketball Team was coached from 2002 to 2007 by Neil Dougherty. He was fired in March 2008, after TCU limped through yet another season with a losing record. Jim Christian, previously with Kent State University, was hired shortly after Dougherty was fired. Christian resigned on April 2, 2012, to accept the head coaching position at Ohio University. He was replaced by Trent Johnson, who guided TCU into the Big 12. From 2012 to 2016, Johnson's teams posted a 50–79 record, including an 8–64 mark in Big 12 play, and never finished better than ninth in the ten-team league. Johnson was fired in 2016 and replaced by Jamie Dixon, a former TCU player who had served as head coach at Pittsburgh prior to returning to Fort Worth.
As of the end of the 2021–22 season, Dixon has led TCU to a 117–84 record, a 42–64 mark in Big 12 play, an NIT championship in 2017, and two appearances in the NCAA tournament. The 2021–22 season was the Frogs' best season yet, as they finished tied for fifth in the Big 12, reached the semifinals of the 2022 Big 12 men's basketball tournament, and won an NCAA tournament game for the first time since 1987.
The TCU Men's Basketball Team plays their home games in Schollmaier Arena, formerly known as the Daniel–Meyer Coliseum, on the campus of TCU.
Kurt Thomas, considered by some as the best athlete to attend TCU, played for the basketball team from 1990 to 1995. He was a three time All-American and averaged 29 points and 15 rebounds his senior year.
Women's basketball
The Horned Frogs fielded their first women's basketball team in the 1977–78 season and recorded a 5–18 record. They improved significantly the following year, going 19–8. Current coach Raegan Pebley has been the coach of the team since the 2014–15 season. During the 2000–01 season, the Horned Frogs won their first regular season and conference championship at the WAC Tournament. The program matched that accomplishment the next season, their first season in Conference USA during the 2001–2002 season. They then proceeded to win the C-USA tournament in 2002–03 and 2004–05. Of the four years the Horned Frogs were in C-USA, they won the conference title four out of five years.2005–06 TCU Women's Media Guide p. 136
TCU has also reached the Women's NCAA tournament for six consecutive years, stretching back to the 2000–01 season. Each year, they have won their first game of the tournament and lost the second game, except for first-round losses to Oregon in 2005 and to South Dakota State in 2009. TCU women's basketball has reached the post season 11 out of 12 years that Coach Jeff Mittie has been head of the program.
The Horned Frogs share Schollmaier Arena with the men's team, playing under the roof there for the entire history of the program.
Until the 2010–11 athletics' season, the women's athletic teams went by "Lady Frogs".
Women's volleyball