Where will the Horned Frogs play this postseason and who will be the opponent?
After a one year absence from bowl season, the TCU Horned Frogs will play in the post season for the first time since the 2022-23 CFP National Championship Game. While the stakes will not be as large, bowl games present an exciting showcase opportunity for the team and one more chance for fans to support this squad. Formal bowl announcements will begin to come out following conference championship game results this weekend, with official announcements to be made on Selection Day along with the CFP reveal on December 8. So where will the Horned Frogs be headed for its bowl and who might be on the other side of the field?
Alamo Bowl, San Antonio, TX – Saturday, December 28, vs. B12/P12 Pool Selection
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In what had traditionally been a marquee matchup between top non-Playoff teams from the Big 12 and Pac 12, now pulls from a pool of any combination of Big 12 teams and former Pac 12 teams, meaning it is feasible to be two teams currently in the same conference – potentially even a rematch of a regular season game. There are enough eligible teams where a rematch is unlikely, but the most popular projection is pairing Big 12 squads BYU & Colorado in the Alamo Dome. TCU fans would certainly love to head south and remember the Alamo Bowl miracles of years past, given this bowl gets first selection, it’s almost certain that they’ll take Colorado to play either the Big 12 title loser or BYU. The chances we see SuperFrog on the Riverwalk are near zero.
Pop-Tarts Bowl, Orlando, FL – Saturday, December 28, vs. ACC
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We need Josh Hoover devouring a giant pop-tart mascot as MVP of the the game, but sadly the Big 12 pick here is almost certainly the loser of the conference championship game matched up with the loser of the ACC Championship or Miami.
Texas Bowl, Houston, TX – Tuesday, December 31, vs. SEC
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Now we are in range of potential landing spots for our Frogs, with the trip to H-Town likely to produce the top matchup. It’s very likely one of the Big 12’s Texas teams will head to the Texas Bowl, with the bowl administration getting its pick of Texas Tech, Baylor, or TCU. Depending on how the CFP and other SEC bowl selection goes the team on the other side could be Texas A&M for a Lone Star State showdown or LSU and a hot seat Brian Kelly or a Mizzou squad with its best players already declared for the NFL draft.
Liberty Bowl, Memphis, TN – Friday, December 27, vs. SEC
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If TCU is skipped over by the Texas Bowl, this would become the most likely destination. Due to proximity, the Frogs are more likely to go to Memphis than either of the other teams from Texas. Frog fans could catch Desmond Bane and the Grizzlies play the night before to make it a terrific holiday sports getaway, benefitting the city and the bowl. While possible Ole Miss dumps all the way from the CFP bubble to its hometown bowl just across the state lines, but its likely the Liberty falls further down the SEC pecking order to Arkansas or Vanderbilt. Any team should be so lucky to play TCU in the Liberty Bowl as the last match-up produced an eventual rematch in a National Championship six years later. So get ready for Horned Frogs vs. Commodores playing for the CFP Trophy in 2030.
Rate Bowl, Phoenix, AZ – Thursday, December 26, vs. Big Ten
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Long live the Cheez-It Bowl. This would likely be the backstop for TCU’s bowl destination, matching the Frogs up with someone deep down the Big Ten pecking order. While a Fiesta Bowl rematch in Phoenix might be fun, Michigan’s brand and immense fanbase likely has it selected before the Rate Bowl has a shot. From there, it’d likely be a west coast B1G team like USC for another battle with Lincoln Riley or Washington for a showdown of the last two National Runners-Up.
Armed Forces Bowl, Fort Worth, TX – Friday, December 27, vs. Service Academy / Pool
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I see very little chance TCU will stay home to play in Amon G. Carter Stadium for its bowl game. One of the major points of these games is to generate tourism to a city during the holidays, filling hotel rooms and having visitors spend money to generate revenue and economic impact to the host site. While the Horned Frogs playing in Fort Worth would likely put more fans inside the stadium than many other options available, it doesn’t fill hotels or bring new revenue to town. Maybe Texas Tech will play in this game, since they are so vocal about wanting to get tickets for a game in The Carter.
First Responder Bowl, Dallas, TX – Friday, January 3, vs. Pool
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While technically still an option as a bowl destination, this would be a nightmare scenario for TCU fans. To be forced to play in the SMU Stadium against an opponent like Tulane or UTSA or James Madison or North Texas that will be fired up to play the Frogs and could absolutely beat your brains in if you let it, meanwhile the Ponies are likely playing in the Playoff – similar to how Baylor had to play Air Force in frigid Fort Worth in 2022 while the Horned Frogs were playing for a National Championship. I’d expect many around TCU would rather have missed a bowl than to go back into Gerald J. Ford Stadium in January.
ESPN Events Pool of Bowls
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It is possible that the Horned Frogs do not get selected by any of the above bowl sites and instead will enter the pool of teams available for ESPN to slot as it sees fit for bowl games it owns and for which there is no conference tie-in team available. Potential Bowl destinations include Gasparilla (Tampa, FL), Cure (Orlando, FL), Birmingham, Myrtle Beach, Boca Raton. Each would pair the Frogs up with a high-performing G5 program or a Power 4 team that snuck into bowl eligibility. While not ideal that these would likely be lower-profile contests, most at least make for a good trip to locations TCU fans haven’t recently visited for bowl games.
Expert Predictions
- ESPN: Liberty Bowl vs. Florida Gators or Oklahoma
- USA Today: Armed Forces Bowl vs. Navy
- Action Network: Rate Bowl vs. Rutgers
- CBS Sports: Texas Bowl vs. LSU
- Athlon Sports: Liberty Bowl vs. Oklahoma
- The Athletic: Texas Bowl vs. Missouri