FRISCO, TX – The only two teams in the Big 12 with more wins than TCU since the Horned Frogs joined the conference in 2012 are Oklahoma State and Kansas State. Over the last three years, it is Kansas State and TCU claiming the most wins. But at Big 12 Media Days in Frisco, the Frogs were overlooked and any buzz out of Fort Worth was drowned out by the hype in Lubbock or even Waco. 

Ask for Big 12 favorites entering 2025 and TCU is lower on the list than Arizona State or Kansas State or even in-state rivals like Texas Tech and Baylor. In fact, the projected win totals in Las Vegas have TCU at 6.5 wins, the same as Houston. The conference no longer holds a preseason media poll because commissioner Brett Yormark believes the wide-open Big 12 faces a perception issue when a program viewed as lower tier in the preseason rises to championship level; think Arizona State in 2024 or Oklahoma State in 2023 or even TCU in 2022. 

If the media poll still existed, the Horned Frogs would’ve been picked to finish in the middle of the pack. An unofficial media poll put together by the Gamblin’ Gauchos had TCU at sixth. But why the disrespect? TCU returns arguably the top quarterback in the conference in Josh Hoover, who enters Year 3 under Kendal Briles. The defense improved in the second half of the season last year in Andy Avalos’ debut as the defensive coordinator. Key contributors return on both sides of the football for a team that won six of its last seven with the only loss coming by three points on the road against Baylor. 

“We’re a small private school so we’re never going to get the hype of some of the schools with a million alumni, but we’ll put our consistency up against anyone in this conference,” head coach Sonny Dykes said in Frisco on Wednesday. “I don’t really care that much about what people say externally, but it does make you shake your head sometimes and wonder if they realize what these players have accomplished over the last 25 years.” 

TCU was picked seventh ahead of the 2022 season that ended in a trip to the national championship game. The momentum from that season was admittedly hurt by a blowout loss to Georgia and a 2023 season that started with a loss to Deion Sanders in his first game as an FBS coach and ended as the first team since Texas in 2010 to not qualify for a bowl game the year after playing for a national championship. 

Dykes started his TCU tenure 12-0. He was 8-12 over his next 20 as his Frogs started 3-3 last year with inexcusable upset losses to UCF and Houston. That slow start may have caused the national audience, and most of the media, to stop paying attention. Maybe they all missed the run to end 2024 and how it set up Dykes’ squad for a big 2025. 

But don’t expect the Horned Frogs to care about the disrespect. They’re used to it. Fort Worth always played second fiddle to Dallas. TCU’s success in the Big 12 was always overshadowed by the outsized expectations of the Longhorns down in Austin. Even without Texas in the conference, the spending spree by Texas Tech has grabbed most of the offseason headlines and made the Red Raiders a flashy pick to win the Big 12 despite not much history of competing for titles. 

“At TCU, people always underestimate us but then you look at the Big 12 standings and most years we’re near the top,” Hoover said. “We’re a blue-collar team with a chip on our shoulder and we’re focused on getting better and proving people wrong.” 

TCU is betting on continuity and development. Most of its starters were on campus last year and Dykes bragged about losing the fewest number of players to the portal in the Big 12. The offensive coordinator is in Year 3. The defensive coordinator is in Year 2. Dykes himself is entering Year 4. The quarterback is experienced, the defense is deep, and the Frogs have landed the best recruiting class in the Big 12 in two of the last three cycles. 

We might not expect TCU to play for a conference title and be in the mix for a College Football Playoff berth, but the players and coaches absolutely do. 

“We’re planning on winning the Big 12 championship, that’s our expectation, our goal,” Hoover said. “Our goal is to get back to the national championship game and to win it.”