TCU Horned Frogs

The TCU Horned Frogs are the athletic teams that represent Texas Christian University, consisting of 18 varsity teams. The "horned frog" nickname and mascot refer to the Texas horned lizard, also known as the "horned frog". The teams participate in the NCAA Division I and in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for football competing in the Big 12 Conference. On October 10, 2011, TCU announced that it had accepted an invitation to join the Big 12 Conference.

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 (C-USA) 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.

Horned frog

Horned frog is a common name used to identify several kinds of frogs with a hornlike appearance:

See also