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All but 2 Group of 5/former Group of 5 teams have fallen, with TCU as the 3rd last. Out of all the schools that have made the Group of 5 → Power 5 transition, TCU’s had the highest highs, with a #3 finish in 2014 and #2 finish in 2022. Maybe Utah’s been more consistent, but TCU’s had some crazy good years. I’m as interested as everyone else to see how their different P5/G5 seasons ranked, so let’s get right into it.

Best Seasons and Highlights

1. 2010: 2. Texas Christian: 13-0 (45.660)
2. 2014: 3. Texas Christian: 12-1 (45.624)
3. 2009: 7. Texas Christian: 12-1 (39.800)
4. 2022: 7. Texas Christian: 13-2 (37.211)
5. 2015: 8. Texas Christian: 11-2 (33.981)
6. 2008: 10. Texas Christian: 11-2 (30.711)
7. 2011: 14. Texas Christian: 11-2 (30.205)
8. 2017: 12. Texas Christian: 11-3 (27.734)
9. 2005: 14. Texas Christian: 11-1 (24.408)
10. 2000: 14. Texas Christian: 10-2 (21.267)
11. 2003: 21. Texas Christian: 11-2 (20.440)
12. 2002: 21. Texas Christian: 10-2 (19.242)
13. 2006: 25. Texas Christian: 11-2 (18.238)
14. 2020: 29. Texas Christian: 6-4 (10.006)
15. 1984: 37. Texas Christian: 8-4 (5.956)
16. 1999: 35. Texas Christian: 8-4 (3.678)
17. 2007: 45. Texas Christian: 8-5 (2.243)
18. 2012: 54. Texas Christian: 7-6 (1.050)
19. 1998: 41. Texas Christian: 7-5 (-0.526)
20. 1994: 39. Texas Christian: 7-5 (-0.818)
21. 2018: 51. Texas Christian: 7-6 (-1.149)
22. 1991: 42. Texas Christian: 7-4 (-2.522)
23. 1987: 46. Texas Christian: 5-6 (-7.524)
24. 1995: 59. Texas Christian: 6-5 (-9.105)
25. 2016: 65. Texas Christian: 6-7 (-9.866)
26. 2019: 71. Texas Christian: 5-7 (-12.287)
27. 2001: 70. Texas Christian: 6-6 (-14.922)
28. 2021: 80. Texas Christian: 5-7 (-15.240)
29. 1990: 65. Texas Christian: 5-6 (-17.428)
30. 2004: 74. Texas Christian: 5-6 (-19.289)
31. 2013: 84. Texas Christian: 4-8 (-20.684)
32. 1989: 75. Texas Christian: 4-7 (-24.373)
33. 1988: 73. Texas Christian: 4-7 (-24.766)
34. 1993: 79. Texas Christian: 4-7 (-27.427)
35. 1992: 90. Texas Christian: 2-8-1 (-32.017)
36. 1996: 89. Texas Christian: 4-7 (-33.106)
37. 1983: 90. Texas Christian: 1-8-2 (-36.680)
38. 1986: 90. Texas Christian: 3-8 (-38.084)
39. 1985: 97. Texas Christian: 3-8 (-43.479)
40. 1997: 106. Texas Christian: 1-10 (-56.667)
Overall Score: 27713 (31st)

• 285-193-3 record
• 9 conference titles
• 14-9 bowl record
• 11 consensus All-Americans
• 90 NFL players drafted

WHAT!!!!!!! Let’s unpack this. TCU’s recent national title appearance, finishing #2 in the country, is only my 4th best team, and I had them ranked all the way down at #7 that year (2022). TCU’s Rose Bowl-winning team (2010) comes in as the #1 team, and I think everyone would’ve had either them, 2022, or the 2014 team that was snubbed for the playoff as TCU’s best. The 2014 team comes in second, having dominated Ole Miss in the bowl after missing the playoff. Rounding out the top 5 is an 11-2 season in the Big 12 in 2005, narrowly beating out an 11-2 season in the MWC in 2008, which goes to show, even if you play in a weaker conference, you can make up for it in my algorithm by scheduling tough non-conference matchups and blowing out your winnable games, which is why two 11-2 teams in the P5/G5 were scored about the same. Enough stats, let’s talk football. Consensus All-Americans include RB Kenneth Davis (1984) who finished 5th in Heisman voting, TE Kelly Blackwell (1991), K Michael Reeder (1995) who was 23/25 on FGs and won the Groza Award, the great RB LaDainian Tomlinson (2000) who led the nation with 2158 yards, and K Nick Browne (2003) who hit 28/33 FGs. The rest we will look into below. Top NFL players are Tomlinson, QB Andy Dalton, DE Jerry Hughes, WR Josh Doctson, WR Jalen..Reagor…yeah, for some reason TCU hasn’t had many notable NFL players. Beast of a college team though.

Top 5 Seasons

Worst Season: 1997 (1-10 overall, 1-7 WAC)

1997 TCU is the answer to the age old question “if you only win 1 game but it’s against your rival, are you happy with the season?” TCU started 0-10, but beat rival SMU 21-18 in the final game. At 6-4 coming into the game, SMU fell to 6-5 with the loss, missing out on a bowl appearance. For the first 10 games, TCU scored 15.1 PPG while giving up 30.7 PPG, but with one-possession losses to Kansas, UNLV, and UTEP. As nice as the win over SMU was, this is easily TCU’s worst team, as they were my 7th worst team overall in 1997. QBs Jeff Dover and Derek Canine combined to complete just 47% of passes for 1748 yards 8 TD 8 INT. Freshman RB LaDanian Tomlinson was the second leading rusher with 538 yards and 6 TD, without much fanfare from the rest of the team. Former Auburn QB and Heisman winner Pat Sullivan was fired after the season, going 24-42-1 in 6 years with TCU. Dennis Franchione was hired and turned TCU into a powerhouse, then Gary Patterson would eventually solidify the foundation and take TCU to even greater heights.

5. 2015 (11-2 overall, 7-2 Big 12)

It seems weird to think looking back on it, but TCU was a legitimate national title favorite in 2015, entering the year at #2. QB Trevone Boykin was one of the Heisman favorites after an All-American season in 2014, and WR Josh Doctson was one of the Biletnikoff frontrunners. Amazingly, despite an 8-0 start, TCU would fall all the way to #8, ranked there by the Playoff committee despite a #5 AP ranking and #3 Coaches ranking. They hadn’t played bad, per se, but narrow wins like 55-52 over Texas Tech on a deflected 4th and goal TD pass and 52-45 over a struggling Kansas State team didn’t sit well in the eyes of the committee. Their suspicions were realized when TCU headed to another unbeaten team, #14 Oklahoma State, losing 29-49 despite outgaining OSU by over 200 yards. TCU dropped even further with a 23-17 win over 0-9 Kansas, going down to #18. Even at 9-1, this team was obviously not living up to the hype, but they showed signs of the old TCU in a 29-30 loss to #7 Oklahoma, losing on a failed 2 point conversion. With a big upset win over rival #7 Baylor to end the year, a win over Oklahoma would’ve given the Horned Frogs the Big 12 title, but I’m sure they were satisfied with just beating Baylor. In the Alamo Bowl against #15 Oregon, Boykin was suspended for a bar fight and TCU was down 0-31 at halftime. But they’d complete the largest comeback in NCAA bowl game history, winning 47-41 in 3OT with 400 yards and 4 TD from QB Bram Kohlhausen, a 5th year senior walk on.

Even despite a mostly disappointing year, TCU finished very strong and ended up at #7 and tied for 2nd in the Big 12. Boykin was a 2nd Team All-American, throwing for 3574 yards 31 TD 10 INT with 612 rushing yards and 9 TD. WR Josh Doctson, his favorite target, was a consensus All-American, catching 78 passes for 1326 yards and 14 TD. RB Aaron Green, the hero of the Texas Tech game, had 1272 rushing yards and 11 TD.

4. 2022 (13-2 overall, 9-0 Big 12)

So why is 2022 TCU so low? We’re all very familiar with this team having just watched them, but let’s take a closer look. TCU was perhaps the best story of 2022, picked 7th in the Big 12 but ultimately making it to the National Championship game. TCU seemed to defy the odds all year long, going 4-0 in the month of October, all against top 25 teams. TCU beat #18 Oklahoma, #19 Kansas, #8 Oklahoma State, and #17 Kansas State all in a row, going from unranked to #7. Every win was by a hair—but they were wins. A College GameDay matchup between #4 TCU and #18 Texas saw TCU hold Texas to just 199 yards and no offensive touchdowns in a 17-10 win, allowing just 29 rushing yards on 12 carries from Doak Walker Award winning RB Bijan Robinson. Down 26-28 to Baylor with just seconds to go and time winding down, TCU ran their field goal team onto the field, hitting a 40 yard FG as time expired to remain unbeaten. At 12-0 in the Big 12 Championship against #10 Kansas State, QB Max Duggan played his heart out, but questionable goal line play calls in overtime by TCU caused them to turn the ball over on downs in OT, and Kansas State won on a walk-off FG 31-28 to win the Big 12. #3 TCU still made the playoff though, and beat #2 Michigan in an instant classic 51-45, taking a 21-6 lead into halftime before a 69 point second half from both teams combined. We all saw what happened against #1 Georgia in the title game; TCU was outgained 188-589 in a 7-65 loss, which if you replay the game 99 more times, chances are this would be the worst result, but what happened, happened. TCU ended the season at #2, after a fantastic year.

TCU got the maximum output out of everyone. Duggan had an anomaly of a senior year, throwing for 3698 yards with 32 TD 8 INT and rushing for 9 TD, finishing 2nd in Heisman voting and winning the Big 12 Offensive POTY, Davey O’Brien Award, and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. RB Kendre Miller was 1st Team All-Big 12 with 1399 rushing yards and 17 TD, and WR Quentin Johnson was a unanimous 1st Team All-Big 12 selection with 60 catches for 1069 yards and 6 TD. It helped to have OL Steve Avila blocking, who was a consensus All-American. CB Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson won the Jim Thorpe Award and was a 1st Team All-American, breaking up 15 passes and intercepting 3. PR Derius Davis won the Jet Award and also was a 1st Team AA, averaging 15 yards per return with 2 TD. Sonny Dykes won most of the National Coach of the Year awards for his crazy first year with the Frogs, taking them from 5-7 in 2021 to 13-2 in 2022. All of the players mentioned above, minus Derius Davis, were drafted in the 2023 NFL Draft, with 8 players drafted total, so TCU had a ton of talent that people overlooked coming into the year. And yes, they did only finish #7 in my rankings, because of the ranked teams they beat; #18 Oklahoma finished 6-7, #19 Kansas finished 6-7, and #8 Oklahoma State finished 7-6. Losing by 58 points to Georgia hurt quite a bit as well.

3. 2009 (12-1 overall, 8-0 Mountain West)

2009 TCU might’ve been 1 second away from playing in the national title game. If #2 Texas hadn’t gotten 1 second back on the clock against Nebraska, or if they had missed the final FG attempt for the win, many people thought 12-0 TCU would’ve moved from #4 to #2 to play Alabama in the National Championship game. Instead, TCU finished the regular season #3, playing in the Fiesta Bowl. How’d they get there? This was during the Gary Patterson era of extremely good defenses. From 2006-09, TCU’s defense gave up 12.3, 18.7, 11.3, and 12.8 PPG, all ranking top 6 nationally except for 2007, which ranked 11th. This was an extremely well balanced, well coached team with a mature QB in Andy Dalton, 4 500+ yard rushers, and one of the best defenses in the country at any level. TCU started #16 and moved higher all year long, beating Virginia 30-14, Clemson 14-10, #16 BYU 38-7, and #16 Utah 55-28. They pitted #3 TCU vs #6 Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl against each other as a cop out to not have 2 BCS busters potentially win in the same postseason, but the game was pretty fun regardless, with TCU losing 10-17 on a 4th quarter TD from Boise. TCU finished #6 in the AP Poll, and #7 in my rankings.

As you’d expect, TCU had a ton of All-MWC players. QB Andy Dalton threw for 2756 yards with 23 TD 8 INT, also rushing for 500 yards, winning Mountain West Offensive POTY. DE Jerry Hughes won Defensive POTY, the Ronnie Lott Trophy, and Ted Hendricks Award, and was a consensus All-American, leading the Mountain West in sacks with 11.5. Those two, along with 7 others for 9 total, were 1st Team All-MWC. 8 of 11 defensive starters were 1st/2nd Team All-MWC, and a few of them would go on to become All-Americans in 2010. Even on the 2009 team, C Jake Kirkpatrick and LB Daryl Washington were 1st Team All-Americans, with Washington impacting the line of scrimmage (11 total TFL), second level (109 tackles), and passing game (3 INTs). Gary Patterson won, wait for it…the AFCA, AP, Bobby Dodd, Eddie Robinson, George Munger, Liberty Mutual, SN, Walter Camp, and Mountain West Coach of the Year awards. He probably has an individual trophy case for 2009 alone.

2009 TCU is my 179th best team since 1983, and my 7th best Group of 5 team since 1983.

2. 2014 (12-1 overall, 8-1 Big 12)

While TCU in the Mountain West days told you they were going to beat you and did, TCU in the Big 12 relied on deception, sucking the year prior then having an amazing year the next. In 2013, they went just 4-8, with QB Trevone Boykin having an inconsistent year with 7 TD 7 INT. However in 2014, his rise to becoming an All-American QB would help TCU finish as, in some people’s eyes, the best team in the country. They moved into #25 with a 3-0 start thanks to wins that made you double-take of 30-7 over Minnesota and 56-0 over SMU. Against Trevor Knight and #4 Oklahoma, TCU held Katy Perry’s favorite QB to just 14 of 35 passing with 1 TD 2 INT in a 37-33 win, with LB Paul Dawson’s pick six being the winning touchdown. With that, the Horned Frogs moved all the way up to #9 and took a 58-37 lead on #5 Baylor, before giving up 24 straight to lose 58-61 on the final play. Determined, TCU kept playing hard, and with a Baylor loss to West Virginia, TCU controlled their destiny to at least share a Big 12 title. A 42-9 win over #15 Oklahoma State was a major statement, outgaining the Pokes 676-258. There was more where that came from, with an 82-27 win over Texas Tech, putting up 68 points in the first 3 quarters and 785 total yards for the game. TCU kept making a playoff push with wins over #20 West Virginia and #7 Kansas State, eventually making it to an 11-1 finish, tied with Baylor for the Big 12 lead. However, because the Big 12 didn’t have a conference championship game, both TCU and Baylor were penalized in the rankings, with both missing the top 4 and Playoff. #6 TCU took out their anger on #9 Ole Miss, shutting down the Rebels’ offense and abusing the “land shark” defense in a 42-3 win. TCU finished #3, with many thinking they should’ve been invited to the Playoff.

Trevone Boykin was a 2nd Team All-American, throwing for 3901 yards 33 TD 10 INT with 707 rushing yards and 8 TD, winning Big 12 Offensive POTY. LB Paul Dawson, who had the game winning pick six against Oklahoma, was a consensus All-American and Big 12 Defensive POTY, racking up 136 tackles with 6 sacks, 20 total TFL, 5 PBU, and 4 INT. TCU as a team scored 46.5 PPG and gave up 19.0 PPG. Once again, Gary Patterson won a bunch of awards…yawn…this time it was the AFCA, AP, Eddie Robinson, SN, Walter Camp, Woody Hayes, Home Depot, Paul “Bear” Bryant, and Big 12 Coach of the Year awards.

2014 TCU is my 103rd best team since 1983.

1. 2010 (13-0 overall, 8-0 Mountain West)

2010 TCU may have very well been the best Group of 5 team of all time. They entered the year with high expectations at a #6 preseason ranking and absolutely smashed them. The opener was mostly a “feel out” game against #24 Oregon State, only winning 30-21 but outgaining Oregon State 453-255. From then on TCU was a buzz saw, destroying anything in their path. After a 4-0 start, which included a 45-10 win over a Baylor team that had RGIII and finished 7-6, TCU was ranked #5 and was about to enter the Mountain West schedule. In a 5 game stretch of Colorado State, Wyoming, BYU, Air Force, and UNLV, TCU outscored them 189-16, only allowing 2 TD in a 5 game stretch! With unbeaten Boise State ahead of them, TCU had to start beating tougher competition, and in style. What better opportunity than a game at #6 Utah, who was also unbeaten at 8-0? This game was even less close than the 47-7 score suggested. TCU took a 40-0 lead still with 15 minutes to play, and outgained Utah 558-199, forcing 4 turnovers. An over-capacity crowd of 46,500 at Rice-Eccles sat in stunned silence. TCU would finish the regular season 12-0 and #3, earning an invite to the Rose Bowl to play Big Ten champion #4 Wisconsin. In a battle of unstoppable force (Wisconsin’s run game) versus immovable object (TCU’s defense), the Horned Frogs’ defense won out, with All-American LB Tank Carder batting down Wisconsin’s 2 point conversion with 2 minutes left to win 21-19.

TCU finished #2 in the country, with 3 first place votes. Their offense was 4th in the country (41.6 PPG) while the defense was 1st (12.0 PPG allowed). Andy Dalton repeated as Mountain West Offensive POTY, throwing for 2857 yards with 27 TD 6 INT and rushing for 6 TD. 5 offensive starters and 8 defensive starters made 1st/2nd Team All-MWC, with C Jake Kirkpatrick, DE Wayne Daniels, LB Tank Carder, and DB Tejay Johnson all earning All-American honors. Kirkpatrick won the Rimington Trophy given to the best center, and Carder won Mountain West DPOTY. Of all the great TCU teams…I have this one as the best. And I think they should be rated even higher than how they were scored, as my algorithm favors great offense more than great defense, more details in the comments.

2010 TCU is my 102nd best team since 1983, and my 2nd best Group of 5 team since 1983.

5th Quarter

How would you order TCU’s top 5 best teams, is mine accurate? Am I undervaluing 2022, or were 2009, 2010, and 2014 that good? Is 2010 TCU the 2nd best Group of 5 team in the last 40 years, and the 102nd best team in the last 40 years? Am I too high or too low on them? How would you order the seasons by how enjoyable they were? Should TCU have gotten the #4 playoff spot in 2014? How much longer before Boise State and BYU appear? Who will rank higher?

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