TCU Football 2025 Bowl Projections

SB Nation

TCU Football is going to a bowl game in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2017-2018 when the Horned Frogs won the Alamo Bowl and Cheez-It Bowl. Following the 2024 campaign TCU was invited to Albuquerque

for the New Mexico Bowl, a 34-3 victory over the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns with TCU’s Josh Hoover and Devean Deal bringing home MVP honors. Formal bowl announcements will begin to come out following conference championship game results this weekend, with official match-ups to be confirmed on Selection Day along with the CFP reveal on December 7. So where will the Horned Frogs be headed for its bowl and who might be the opponent on the other side of the field?

Alamo Bowl, San Antonio, TX – Tue. Dec. 30, vs. B12/P12 Pool Selection

Last season: BYU 36 – Colorado 14. In the final year of the current bowl conference alignment for the Alamo Bowl, the Alamo Dome will host the contest between any two teams that were members of the Pac 12 and Big 12 prior to the most recent realignment that dissolved the Pac 12 from its previous form. This of course leaves potential of a rematch or an intra-conference match-up in the post season as in 2024 when Big 12 programs BYU and Colorado played in San Antonio. This game remains very likely to be among the top two teams from this pool that fail to reach the Playoff, with many projections slotting the USC Trojans taking on the Houston Cougars. It is fair to say even after a season-ending win over Cincinnati and even in a world where the Big 12 gets multiple teams into the Playoff, TCU remains too far down the pecking order to get an invite to San Antonio. Potential Opponent: Utah Utes

Pop-Tarts Bowl, Orlando, FL – Sat. Dec. 27, vs. ACC

Last season: Iowa State 42 – Miami FL 41Can we please get Eric McAlister stuffing the stat sheet all over Camping World Stadium during the game and stuffing his face with a frosted wild berry pastry. It would also be fun to pair the Frogs up with another ACC team, an opportunity to pick up a third win over the downtrodden conference, which would be more ACC wins than five ACC members. The ACC has some solid squads to potentially fill its spot here, perhaps giving SMU a chance to pick up a third loss to the Big 12. This one still feels out of reach for TCU unless the western Big 12 programs don’t want to make the travel to Florida. Potential Opponent: Miami Hurricanes

Texas Bowl, Houston, TX – Sat. Dec. 27, vs. SEC

Last season: LSU 44 – Baylor 31. Unless the bowl committee really wants the home-town Cougars to stay local and play here, this could be a very likely landing spot for the Horned Frogs. With a showdown against an SEC foe, this is the kind of game that could really drive offseason hype; an opportunity to reel fans back in after falling short of expectations in 2025. The opponent could be Vanderbilt in potential Heisman Trophy winner Diego Pavia’s final collegiate game, it could be LSU in the first game with Lane Kiffin hired as head coach or even a battle with former Big 12 plaything Texas Longhorns. Regardless of who is the SEC team in this game, its fans will claim the team didn’t care after the Horned Frogs win by three scores. Potential Opponent: Tennessee Volunteers

Liberty Bowl, Memphis, TN – Fri. Jan. 2 vs. American

Last season: Arkansas 39 – Texas Tech 26. While this one takes a big step back in general public perception now that it is a matchup with an American opponent rather than a foe from the big bad SEC, it is likely to produce an incredible matchup. Where previously this game featured a bottom-rung SEC squad with a team and fanbase that doesn’t care at all, you’re now be getting a motivated squad that likely just missed the Playoff as a top contender in a top G5 league. Potential Opponent: Tulane Green Wave.

Rate Bowl, Phoenix, AZ – Fri. Dec. 26 vs. Big Ten

Last season: Kansas State 44, Rutgers 41. The spirit of the Cheez-It Bowl lives on! TCU fans are well known for traveling in swarms to the desert to support the Horned Frogs in the postseason and would surely paint the Diamondbacks ballpark purple if given the opportunity. Since the Big Ten is so top heavy, outside of the three teams that will be in the CFP field, everything else below them is a jumbled mess. However, expect this bowl to fall pretty low on the list of monster brands, likely dropping in a program that doesn’t really move the needle nationally but will be a solid matchup and measuring stick for the Frogs. Potential Opponent: Minnesota Golden Gophers.

Independence Bowl, Shreveport, LA – Tue. Dec. 30 vs. Conference USA

Last season: Army 27 – Louisiana Tech 6. This would be less than ideal and we’ve hit the range of bowls where fans would be quite disappointed if this is where the Frogs land. With Kansas State already announcing it would not participate in bowl season after the retirement of head coach Chris Kleiman, that reduces the pool of Big 12 teams; if BYU & TTU both make the CFP that would thin the numbers as well, making it unlikely TCU falls down the pecking order into Shreveport or below. If this is the game, it could be against former TCU assistant Sonny Cumbie and LA Tech or former TCU RB and nation’s leading rusher Cam Cook with Jacksonville State. Potential Opponent: Kennesaw State Owls

ESPN Events Pool of Bowls

As ESPN looks to fill its content schedule through the college football postseason, it owns many of the bowl games and will look to fill them to its choosing. If the Horned Frogs are not selected into any of the Big 12-assigned bowl contests it will fall into this bucket of games, a wide variety of destinations and potential opponent. Some of these bowls already have matchups announced or other conference alignments, with the remaining options from the pool including: Armed Forces (Fort Worth, TX), Birmingham, Boca Raton, Potato (Boise, ID), First Responder (Dallas, TX), Frisco, Myrtle Beach, New Mexico (Albuquerque, NM), Salute to Veterans (Montgomery, AL).