Editor’s note: This continues the Star’s ongoing “Big 12 Blitz” series, where we introduce U of A fans to the on- and off-field need-to-know details surrounding each member of the 16-team Big 12 Conference. Today: we trek to the Fort (Worth, that is) and reintroduce the Horned Frogs from Texas Christian University, more commonly known as TCU.
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When Arizona football hits the road in November for a pre-Thanksgiving showdown against TCU in Fort Worth, Texas, any Wildcat faithful who were fans of the program during the early aughts might feel inclined to tip their cap to the host Horned Frogs.
TCU coach Gary Patterson (center) and Arizona coach John Mackovic (right) meet at midfield after the No. 19 Horned Frogs defeated the Wildcats 13-10 in overtime on Sept. 27, 2003, at Arizona Stadium in Tucson. That night would be Mackovic’s last on a UA sideline; the school announced his firing the next day after a 10-18 record through less than three seasons overseeing the Wildcat program.
After all, it was TCU, 21 years ago, that set Arizona back on a long, but undisputedly righteous course correction from the doldrums of college football to national respectability.
On Sept. 27, 2003, Arizona was hosting the No. 19 Horned Frogs, then of Conference USA, in Tucson; the prior three weeks the Wildcats had been outscored 166-30 by the likes of a Nick Saban-coached LSU, Oregon and Purdue.
But the UA played it tough against TCU, holding a small lead late into the fourth quarter. Alas, TCU would kick a late field goal to tie the game at 10 apiece, then another in overtime to escape with the 13-10 win.
The next morning, Arizona announced it had fired ill-fitting coach John Mackovic midway through his third season in Southern Arizona.
Sure, Mackovic’s time in Tucson was likely to be short anyway, but TCU did the honorable thing and put the Wildcats out of their misery on that front.
Two decades later, the football series will be renewed with the now-Big 12 Horned Frogs a year removed from an appearance in the College Football Playoff championship game, and Arizona coming off a 10-win season and considered a possible contender in that same Big 12 Conference.
Times do change, don’t they.
While it’s been a while since Arizona and TCU have taken to the same gridiron, the last few years have seen Wildcats and Horned Frogs lock in on more than a few occasions. Tommy Lloyd’s men’s basketball team had that infamous second-round NCAA Tournament victory over TCU in 2022 in San Diego; Adia Barnes’ women’s team defeated the Horned Frogs in the semifinals of the 2019 WNIT. UA soccer defeated TCU twice also in 2019 — once in a scheduled regular-season matchup, the other in the first round of the NCAA Tournament — and UA baseball has met TCU the last two seasons, also once in an NCAA regional.
In the spirit of the Horned Frogs welcoming the Wildcats to the Big 12 this year, the Star had the prior to the start of the 2024 season to chat with Melissa Triebwasser, who covers TCU and co-hosts the Frogs Insider podcast. Triebwasser, a TCU alum, shared her insights into the school’s evolution as a power athletic program, the best of the best about Fort Worth and more.
Here’s a portion of that conversation (which has been lightly edited):
As a someone who attended TCU, you obviously know Fort Worth, the city. … Share with us about the community around TCU and how it's evolved not just recently, but over the last 25 years or so.
A: “I was a student back in the 90s … Just going to school there, and what that campus and what Fort Worth looked like then, and what Fort Worth looks like today, I mean, you almost can't even compare them.
“One of the coolest things that happened — and (former football coach) Gary Patterson gets a lot of credit for this — was the relationship between TCU as a university and Fort Worth as a city really has grown tremendously over the last 25 years. They were very much two entities existing apart from themselves for so long. But as TCU gained success and notoriety and national attention and more people came to TCU as students or to visit or to watch games, Fort Worth really stepped up and embracing all things Horned Frogs … and it's been such a beneficial and symbiotic relationship for both entities.
“(Fort Worth is) also it's a lot more metropolitan than people give it credit for. There is a lot of culture there's a lot of history; there's a lot of great diversity and food and things to do. It is such a wonderful place to be.
“The weather … it’s (as) terrible as it is all across Texas for a variety of reasons. But for the most part the people are really down to earth and it's just a really great place to be.
“There's an exceptional zoo. There's one of the all-time great golf courses; I don't want to stereotype people in Arizona but everyone I know in Arizona plays golf so I feel like that's important. And, like I said, the food (is) really unbelievable.
“The biggest advice I get to people that are questioning Fort Worth is just never ever call it Dallas. Those two places could not be more different.”
DFW is OK though — to describe the region, and obviously the airport?
A: “We’ll take DFW. We want to be clear that the airport is in Fort Worth — or parts of it are in Fort Worth, parts of it are in like four different cities.
“And the Cowboys and Rangers playing Arlington. Those are important things I think to specify.
At Big 12 media days (in July) it was interesting hearing Kyle Whittingham, coach at Utah, talk about the conference changes he's been through since he started coaching as an assistant coach in 1994 in Salt Lake City. H’se seen Utah go from the WAC to the Mountain West to the PAC 12, and now the Big 12. TCU has kind of been in a similar situation as it's grown into a national power in football and competitive (nationally) in other sports …
A: “I think it was really TCU’s identity, especially under the Gary Patterson regime, to be that underdog. You know, you can go back to (Texas) A&M, I think it was (former Aggies head coach) Jackie Sherrill Cheryl that called TCU cockroaches back in the Southwest Conference days.
“I came after the Southwest Conference had broken up and being from Northern California, college football isn't really a big deal out here, which is again, one of the things I'm most looking forward to. Going back to text, on Monday mornings talking college football — nobody does that here.
“Coach Fran (Dennis Franchione) came along (in the 1990s) and did enough to get TCU back to respectability. Recruited well — he brought in a guy named Ladanian Tomlinson who anyone that follows football at any level has heard of
“He brought in a defensive coordinator named Gary Patterson. And so (Patterson) kind of guided TCU from the WAC, to Conference USA, to the Mountain West Conference where they became a national power and super dominant and where some of the best rivalry games in the world came against Utah.
“I know TCU fans are so excited to have Utah back in (its) conference because of how great that rivalry became. And I don't know many TCU fans, myself included, that didn't cry when (former Big 12 commissioner) Bob Bowlsby said “welcome home” to TCU and they got the Big 12 invite. I mean, that was such a landmark thing for the Horned Frogs.”
With Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd’s concern evident as well in the background, Arizona guard Kerr Kriisa (25) can’t believe the ball was called out on him and not TCU forward JaKobe Coles (21) amid a first half scramble during the Wildcats’ 85-80 win over the Horned Frogs on March 21, 2022, in the second round of that season’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament in San Diego. Kriisa didn’t make any new friends postgame among the defeated fanbase when he left the court first gesturing the Horned Frog hand sign and then blowing kisses toward TCU faithful.
Pivoting to other sports, (men’s) tennis and rifle are national champions. Women’s basketball is an interesting one, especially here, tied to to the University of Arizona. Madi Connor, a transfer from Arizona who was trying to find playing time in Tucson it didn't shake out exactly the first couple of years and she goes to TCU and … I believe she was leading the nation in three point shooting at one point ahead of someone we might have heard of named Caitlin Clark. So it's going to be fun when Arizona fans get to see TCU come back to McKale Center. … Men's Basketball, (coach) Jamie Dixon, a TCU alum, correct?
A: "He is a TCU alum and hit probably the biggest shot and TCU men's basketball history.
“And, I just want to point out while we're doing this: Mike Miles was fouled. All I'm going to say. All I’m going to say is he was fouled in that (2022 men’s basketball) NCAA Tournament game. He was fouled at half court.
“I was there. ... We can move on. We're good. I'm good.”
Arizona forward Cate Reese (25) gets squeezed out of a rebound by TCU forward Amy Okonkwo (00), left, and guard Lauren Heard (20) in the Wildcats' 59-53 win over the Horned Frogs at McKale Center on April 3, 2019, in the semifinal the that season's WNIT. The UA would win the WNIT championship three days later.
When I'm trying to analyze Arizona and who among the new (Big 12) partners … have sort of this interesting potential as competition across the board. TCU kind of fits. ... And there are enough nonstop flights on American Airlines and Southwest from Tucson direct to the Dallas Fort Worth area that it lends itself to a real opportunity for Arizona fans to connect with another program, like they would have with one of the LA schools or even the Bay Area Schools.
A: “We are way more fun. We are way more fun than USC fans and UCLA fans. I've been around plenty of them. Stanford is is my second team, I have family connections there.
“The year that the football team played for national championship also was, I think the first school in history to have a baseball team make the College World Series, a (men’s) basketball team make and I think win a game in the NCAA tournament … and a football team make the playoff; the playoff hasn’t been around that long, but still it was pretty impressive feat.
“Soccer is annually in the NCAA Tournament. Volleyball, they hired a new coach a couple of years ago, Jason Williams; he's turned that program around. They are an NCAA tournament team and beach volleyball, within a whisper of a national championship game the last several years, is a powerhouse program."
TCU infielder Jerome Pena tags out Arizona baserunner Seth Mejias-Brean during the Horned Frogs' 11-5 win over the Wildcats in a Fort Worth Regional matchup on June 5, 2010, at Lupton Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas, as part of that year's NCAA Baseball Tournament. TCU forged a similar result under similar circumstances a few days shy of 13 years later, when the Frogs defeated the Wildcats 12-4 in June 2023 in a Fayetteville Regional NCAA Tournament matchup.
If an Arizona fan is coming for two or three days for to catch a game, what are the kinds of must hits that you would tell them in Fort Worth in particular. Not Dallas, but Fort Worth.
A: “The first thing I would say is the Stockyards are really, really cool. If you can go see a cattle drive, which they do every single day, it's worth seeing.
“When you look at Near Southside, which is a newer-ish redevelopment, there are so many great bars and restaurants. I would say The Usual in Southside makes the best old fashioned that you can find in town and probably like a top five I've had my entire life.
“Panther City Barbecue in Fort Worth is outstanding. Dayne’s Craft Barbecue is outstanding.
“Hurtado Barbecue is probably one of my absolute favorites. The Mexican food of course in Fort Worth is unbelievable. Downtown has a great scene, you can walk into a lot of places get a drink here live music.
“The zoo that I mentioned earlier — if you bring in kids, the zoo is outstanding. It's one of the best zoos in the country and annually among the top rated.
“I know TCU hosts Arizona this year ... the Saturday before Thanksgiving. So I know that's a tough travel week. But I would definitely encourage people if you get the opportunity to come and it's not August or September or July … it is such a great place to visit.
Arizona goalkeeper Hope Hisey, a Canyon del Oro alum, punches out a troublesome ball over TCU's Laney Peabody (27) during the second half of the Wildcats' eventual 1-0 win over the Horned Frogs on Nov. 16, 2019, in the first round of that year's NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament at Mulcahy Stadium in Tucson. Arizona defeated TCU twice that year, both in Tucson; the teams also met in a 4-3 Wildcat victory over the Horned Frogs in a late September regular-season match.
