Most critics and fans across the college football landscape doubted the play and strength of TCU throughout the 2022 season. With Sonny Dykes in his first year as head coach in a program that finished 5-7 in the ’21 season, the Horned Frogs had the same 200-1 odds as Arizona and Mississippi State to compete for a College Football Playoff national championship at the start of the season.
However, TCU continued to win in unorthodox ways that included in final second moments. The Horned Frogs piled on a dozen wins before suffering their first blemish of the season in a 31-28 loss to Kansas State in the Big 12 championship game on Dec. 3.
A day after losing its conference title game, the CFP committee named the Horned Frogs as one of the top four teams in college football that would compete for a chance to play in the CFP title game. Much like the chatter throughout the season, some were not happy and were shocked that TCU landed in the top four like former NFL and Texas quarterback Chris Simms.
“TCU in the CFP? The Big 12 sucks, and I played in the Big 12. I know what the resumes are, but the middle class of the SEC would win the Big 12,” the former Longhorns signal caller tweeted after TCU was selected to the CFP.
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Well, after the Horned Frogs’ 51-45 victory against the Wolverines in Saturday’s Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, the tweet from the Football Night in America analyst resurfaced in a way that he had to eat his own words. TCU, the underdog in its matchup against Michigan, became the first Big 12 team to win a CFP game.
Prior to TCU’s victory, the last time a Big 12 team played for a national title was when the Horned Frogs were playing in the Mountain West. Now, for a program that was not ranked in the Associated Press until Week 6 of the college football season, the Horned Frogs now await the winner of the Georgia-Ohio State game in the CFP national championship game on Jan. 9.
