Where is TCU from? Everything to know about Texas Christian University’s college football program

TCU football has reached unprecedented heights in 2022, reaching the nationwide championship recreation for the primary time in program historical past.

The Horned Frogs’ unprecedented ascension to the nationwide title stage — excepting, maybe, the 1939 Sugar Bowl — has positioned TCU in a highlight it has not often loved. Any time a football group can earn such a berth, curiosity within the college at massive will skyrocket.

So it is for TCU, which actually will profit from the elevated highlight and curiosity on account of the 2023 College Football Playoff championship recreation towards Georgia.

Though the Horned Frogs have a storied historical past in football and different sports activities, the common sports activities fan might discover themselves curious about TCU, together with its historical past, enrollment and curious nickname.

MORE: What is a horned frog? Explaining TCU’s nickname, mascot & logos for football program

The Sporting News breaks down every little thing you want to know about TCU, from its identify and institution as a spiritual establishment to convention tie-ins:

Where is TCU from?

TCU is a personal non secular establishment with a listed enrollment of 12,273 as of the 2022-23 tutorial 12 months. It is primarily based out of Fort Worth, Texas, and was established in 1869 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark (albeit by a unique identify).

TCU’s campus is 272 acres, roughly three miles from downtown Fort Worth. The college is affiliated with — however not ruled by — the Disciples of Christ, a Protestant denomination within the U.S. and Canada. It is the biggest of 21 establishments related to the Disciples of Christ, and reportedly enrolls college students of “more than 60 religious traditions and faiths.”

What does TCU stand for in college football?

TCU is an acronym for Texas Christian University, an homage to the college’s affiliation with the Disciples of Christ, whose historic partnership with the college allowed it to change into the establishment it is in the present day.

How Texas Christian University bought its identify

Per TCU’s web site, the college initially was named the AddRan Male & Female College — after brothers Addison and Randolph Clark — in 1869. It had an enrollment of 13 college students.

The college held that moniker for a number of years, throughout which period the enrollment grew to 450 college students. That progress would show unsustainable, nevertheless, with out an endowment. The college acquired it from the Disciples of Christ, prompting it to be renamed the AddRan Christian University in 1873.

Per TCU’s Mission & History page:

The Clarks cast an affiliation with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) to ‘undertake’ their college, giving it a brand new identify and making certain its future. The 1873 constitution said that AddRan Christian University would fulfill its mission to ‘promote literary and scientific schooling.’ The relationship with the Disciples would proceed to be one among heritage and values.

The college’s historical past web page gives little clarification as to why it modified names once more in 1902, saying solely “We officially became Texas Christian University in 1902.” For almost as lengthy, it has passed by the acronym TCU.

MORE: Has TCU ever won a national championship in football? History of Horned Frogs’ best seasons

What convention is TCU in?

TCU has competed out of the Big 12 Conference in football since 2012, although it additionally competes within the Patriot Rifle Conference for rifle and Coastal Collegiate Sports Association for seaside volleyball.

The Horned Frogs’ ongoing affiliation with the Big 12 — 11 years — is its second-longest partnership with an athletic convention, trailing solely the Southwest Conference, by which it competed in football from 1923 by means of its dissolution in 1995. TCU gained each of its claimed nationwide titles as a member of the SWC in 1935 and ’38.