The TCU–Texas Tech football rivalry is an American

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

rivalry A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant o ...

between the

TCU Horned Frogs football The TCU Horned Frogs football team represents Texas Christian University (TCU) in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The Horned Frogs play their home games in Amon G. Carter Stadium, which is located on the ...

team of

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples ...

(TCU), and the

Texas Tech Red Raiders football The Texas Tech Red Raiders football program is a college football team that represents Texas Tech University (variously "Texas Tech" or "TTU"). The team competes as a member of the Big 12 Conference, which is a NCAA Division I, Division I NCAA D ...

team of

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

. The winner of the annual game is presented with the Saddle Trophy, a traveling icon which bears plaques marking the score of each meeting between the rival schools. The teams have met on the gridiron in 63 games since 1926. The "''West Texas Championship - Saddle Trophy"'' was first awarded, from 1961 through 1970. During this ten-year stretch, the schools split the series 5–5. The trophy was lost and the rivalry name disappeared for decades until the moniker and trophy were reintroduced in 2017.This football game is known as the West Texas Championship - Battle for the Saddle Trophy.

History

From 1926 through 1955, TCU and Texas Tech frequently played as non-conference opponents. In 1956, Texas Tech joined the

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma an ...

(SWC), and the teams played annually as conference opponents, except in 1957 (as Texas Tech was not a full member of the SWC until 1960), until the conference's dissolution in 1995. After the dissolution of the SWC, the teams played a home-and-home series in 2004 and 2006 with the home team winning each time (Texas Tech in 2004, TCU in 2006). In 2012, TCU joined the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

and the teams renewed their annual rivalry. Texas Tech leads the overall series 32–29–3. TCU led the series 10-6 in the early years, 1926-1959. During Southwest Conference play in 1960-1995, Texas Tech led the series 21-12-3 (the series' 3 ties came in 3 straight games in Lubbock in 1979, 1981 and 1983). As members of different conferences during 1996-2011, the two teams met twice and split, 1-1. In Big 12 competition 2012-2021, TCU holds a 6-4 lead. The series has featured many close games and some games with large margins of victory. Texas Tech holds the overall largest victory margin in the series with 56 points in a 63–7 win on November 9, 1985, in Lubbock. Tech's next largest victory margin was a 35-point margin in a 70-35 victory on September 18, 2004, also in Lubbock. TCU's largest victory margin was by 55 points in an 82–27 victory in Fort Worth on October 25, 2014. The 82 points scored was the most points ever scored against Texas Tech and the most points ever scored against any team in Big 12 history. The Frogs and Raiders have only met twice with both teams ranked in the top 25, in 2006 and 2012. Both games were played in Fort Worth and won by the higher-ranked team (TCU 12–3 in 2006 and Texas Tech in 3OT 56–53 in 2012).

Game results

Rankings based on the

Associated Press Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...

released prior to the game.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:TCU-Texas Tech football rivalry College football rivalries in the United States TCU Horned Frogs football Texas Tech Red Raiders football 1926 establishments in Texas

History

Game results

See also

References