TCU–Texas Tech football rivalry

The TCU–Texas Tech football rivalry is an American college football rivalry^[2] between the TCU Horned Frogs football team of Texas Christian University (TCU), and the Texas Tech Red Raiders football team of Texas Tech University.^[3] 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 66 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.^[4] This football game is known as the West Texas Championship – Battle for the Saddle Trophy.

West Texas Championship

TCU Horned Frogs Texas Tech Red Raiders
First meeting	October 30, 1926 TCU 28, Texas Tech 16
Latest meeting	November 2, 2023 Texas Tech 35, TCU 28
Next meeting	October 26, 2024
Trophy	"West Texas Championship" Saddle Trophy (1961–c. 1970; 2017–present)
Statistics
Meetings total	66
All-time series	Texas Tech leads, 33–30–3^[1]
Largest victory	Texas Tech, 63–7 (1985)
Largest goal scoring	October 25, 2014 TCU 82, Texas Tech 27
Longest win streak	Texas Tech, 6 (1973–1978, 1985–1990)
Current win streak	Texas Tech, 1 (2023–present)

300km
200miles

Texas Tech

TCU

  

Locations of TCU and Texas Tech

History

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

In 1956, Texas Tech joined the Southwest Conference (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 and the teams renewed their annual rivalry.

Texas Tech leads the overall series 33–30–3.^[5] 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 2012–2023, TCU holds a 7–5 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).

 

The West Texas Championship Saddle is the traveling trophy between the Red Raiders and Horned Frogs

Game results

Rankings based on the Associated Press Poll released prior to the game.

TCU victories

Texas Tech victories

Tie games

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 October 30, 1926 Fort Worth TCU 28–16 2 October 8, 1927 Fort Worth TCU 16–6 3 October 27, 1928 Fort Worth TCU 28–6 4 October 26, 1929 Lubbock TCU 22–0 5 October 25, 1930 Fort Worth TCU 26–0 6 September 26, 1936 Lubbock Texas Tech 7–0 7 November 7, 1942 Lubbock Texas Tech 13–6 8 November 6, 1943 Fort Worth Texas Tech 40–20 9 November 11, 1944 Fort Worth TCU 14–0 10 November 10, 1945 Lubbock Texas Tech 12–0 11 October 14, 1950 Fort Worth TCU 19–6 12 October 13, 1951 Lubbock Texas Tech 33–19 13 September 24, 1955 Lubbock TCU 32–0 14 November 10, 1956 Lubbock Texas Tech 21–7 15 October 11, 1958 Fort Worth TCU 26–0 16 October 10, 1959 Lubbock TCU 14–8 17 October 8, 1960 Fort Worth TCU 21–7 18 October 14, 1961 Lubbock Texas Tech 10–0 19 October 13, 1962 Fort Worth TCU 35–13 20 October 12, 1963 Lubbock TCU 35–3 21 October 10, 1964 Fort Worth Texas Tech 25–10 22 October 9, 1965 Lubbock Texas Tech 28–24 23 October 8, 1966 Fort Worth TCU 6–3 24 November 11, 1967 Fort Worth TCU 16–0 25 November 9, 1968 Lubbock Texas Tech 31–14 26 November 8, 1969 Fort Worth TCU 35–26 27 November 7, 1970 Lubbock Texas Tech 22–14 28 November 6, 1971 Fort Worth TCU 17–6 29 November 11, 1972 Lubbock TCU 31–7 30 November 10, 1973 Fort Worth #12 Texas Tech 24–10 31 November 9, 1974 Lubbock #19 Texas Tech 28–0 32 November 8, 1975 Fort Worth Texas Tech 34–0 33 November 6, 1976 Fort Worth #5 Texas Tech 14–10 34 November 6, 1977 Lubbock Texas Tech 49–17 No. Date Location Winner Score 35 November 11, 1978 Fort Worth Texas Tech 21–17 36 November 10, 1979 Lubbock Tie 3–3 37 November 8, 1980 Fort Worth TCU 24–17 38 November 7, 1981 Lubbock Tie 39–39 39 November 6, 1982 Fort Worth Texas Tech 16–14 40 November 5, 1983 Lubbock Tie 10–10 41 November 10, 1984 Fort Worth #15 TCU 27–16 42 November 9, 1985 Lubbock Texas Tech 63–7 43 November 8, 1986 Fort Worth #23 Texas Tech 36–14 44 November 7, 1987 Lubbock Texas Tech 36–35 45 November 5, 1988 Fort Worth Texas Tech 23–10 46 November 11, 1989 Lubbock #23 Texas Tech 37–7 47 November 10, 1990 Fort Worth Texas Tech 40–28 48 September 28, 1991 Lubbock TCU 30–16 49 November 14, 1992 Fort Worth Texas Tech 31–28 50 November 6, 1993 Lubbock Texas Tech 49–21 51 November 24, 1994 Fort Worth TCU 24–17 52 November 11, 1995 Lubbock Texas Tech 27–6 53 September 18, 2004 Lubbock Texas Tech 70–35 54 September 16, 2006 Fort Worth #20 TCU 12–3 55 October 20, 2012 Fort Worth #17 Texas Tech 56–53^3OT 56 September 12, 2013 Lubbock Texas Tech 20–10 57 October 25, 2014 Fort Worth #10 TCU 82–27 58 September 26, 2015 Lubbock #3 TCU 55–52 59 October 29, 2016 Fort Worth Texas Tech 27–24^2OT 60 November 18, 2017 Lubbock #12 TCU 27–3 61 October 11, 2018 Fort Worth Texas Tech 17–14 62 November 16, 2019 Lubbock TCU 33–31 63 November 7, 2020 Fort Worth TCU 34–18 64 October 9, 2021 Lubbock TCU 52–31 65 November 5, 2022 Fort Worth #7 TCU 34–24 66 November 2, 2023 Lubbock Texas Tech 35–28 Series: Texas Tech leads 33–30–3^[1]

See also

• List of NCAA college football rivalry games

References

1. "Winsipedia – TCU Horned Frogs vs. Texas Tech Red Raiders football series history". Winsipedia.
2. Soliz, Brandon (June 2017). "College Sports: Who are the five biggest rivals in Texas Tech sports?". Dallas Morning News. Retrieved September 30, 2018.
3. . Archived from the original on January 17, 2016. Retrieved March 30, 2012.
4. Morgan Moriarty (November 18, 2017). "TCU and Texas Tech's Saddle Trophy has been renewed after 46 years". sbnation.com. SB Nation. Retrieved September 24, 2018.
5. "mcubed.net : NCAAF Football : Series records : TCU vs. Texas Tech". mcubed.net.