A long-time rivalry between TCU and Arkansas that has been dormant since 2016 will come alive on New Year's Eve in Houston's NRG Stadium at the 2020 Mercari Texas Bowl.
Game time on Thursday, December 31, is 7 pm Central. ESPN will broadcast the game.
Tickets are being sold to
the general public for a limited capacity crowd of about 14,000. Tickets are available through TicketMaster, not through the schools.
"We're very excited and grateful for the invitation to play in the prestigious Texas Bowl right down the road in Houston," said Jeremiah Donati, TCU's director of intercollegiate athletics. "What an awesome reward for our TCU football student-athletes, coaches and staff who did a tremendous job managing these extraordinary circumstances."
TCU head football coach Gary Patterson said, "We’re excited. We weren’t in a bowl game last year. We’re excited to play a great university like the University of Arkansas.”
TCU Football released a statement that said, in part, "Your TCU Horned Frogs have been invited to play in the Mercari Texas Bowl versus the Arkansas Razorbacks. On behalf of our football team, coaches and staff, thank you for your patience and support during this very challenging season. We wish all of you could be in attendance at the bowl game, but we know you will be there in spirit. We look forward to seeing you back at Amon G. Carter Stadium next fall! Go Frogs!!!"
TCU will go into the bowl game with a 6-4 overall record, 5-4 Big 12, and a three-game winning streak, having won five of their last six games.
The Frogs finished their ninth Big 12 season in sixth place, behind Iowa State, Oklahoma, Texas, Oklahoma State and West Virginia.
In the Big 12 Conference Championship game on Saturday, December 19, Oklahoma beat Iowa State, 27-21.
It was the sixth consecutive Big 12 championship for the Sooners.
Iowa State last won conference
championships in football in 1911 and 1912. The Cyclones tied for Missouri
Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MVIAA) titles in those years. The
MVIAA later became known as the Big Eight Conference.
In the Big 12, TCU lost to: Iowa State, 37-34; Kansas State, 24-21; Oklahoma, 33-14; and West Virginia, 24-6.
In the Big 12, the Horned Frogs beat: Texas, 33-31; Baylor, 33-23; Texas Tech, 34-18; Kansas, 59-23; and Oklahoma State, 29-22.
In its final regular season game of the year, on December 12, TCU won its lone non-conference game. The Frogs beat Louisiana Tech, 52-10.
Arkansas is 3-7 overall and in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Razorbacks have lost four straight games. Arkansas finished fifth in the seven-team western division of the SEC, behind Alabama, Texas A&M, Auburn and Ole Miss.
Arkansas beat: Mississippi State, 21-14; Ole Miss, 33-21; and Tennessee, 24-13.
The Hogs lost to: Georgia, 37-10; Auburn, 30-28; Texas A&M, 42-31; Florida, 63-35; LSU, 27-24; Missouri, 50-48; and Alabama, 52-3.
Other bowl games featuring Big 12 teams are:
- Cheez-It Bowl in Orlando, Florida: No. 21 Oklahoma State vs No. 18 Miami; 4:30 pm Central; December 29; ESPN.
- Alamo Bowl, in San Antonio, Texas: No. 20 Texas vs Colorado; 8 pm Central; December 29; ESPN.
- Cotton Bowl, in Arlington, Texas: No. 6 Oklahoma vs No. 7 Florida; 7 pm Central; December 30; ESPN.
- Liberty Bowl, in Memphis, Tennessee: West Virginia vs Tennessee; 3 pm Central; December 31; ESPN.
- Fiesta Bowl: No. 10 Iowa State vs No. 25 Oregon; 3 pm Central; January 2, 2021; ESPN.
From the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, North Texas is playing Appalachian State on Monday, December 21, in the Myrtle Beach Bowl, which is being held in Conway, South Carolina, the home of Coastal Carolina. Game time is 1:30 pm Central. ESPN will broadcast the game.
A listing of bowl games, match-ups and times: here and here
SMU opted out of playing in a bowl game, as did many other schools. Reportedly, only 58 schools opted to receive/accept bowl bids. This resulted in the cancellation of several bowls.
In addition to SMU, noted teams that opted out of bowl games included Penn State, USC, Minnesota, Nebraska, Michigan State, Maryland, Utah, UCLA, Pittsburgh, Boston College, Georgia Tech, Stanford, Virginia, Kansas State, Virginia Tech, Washington and Florida State.
Bowls canceled included the: Bahamas Bowl; Fenway Bowl (the Montgomery Bowl this year); Hawaii Bowl; Independence Bowl; LA Bowl; Las Vegas; Military Bowl; New Era Pinstripe Bowl; Quick Lane Bowl; Redbox Bowl; San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl; Celebration Bowl; the Tony the Tiger Bowl in El Paso's Sun Bowl; Guaranteed Rate Bowl in Phoenix; Birmingham Bowl; and the Tropical Smoothie Café Frisco Bowl, which was to be played in Frisco’s Toyota Stadium.
In addition, the Rose Bowl game, which will feature No. 1 Alabama and No. 4 Notre Dame in a College Football Playoff semifinal game on January 1, 2021, was moved from Pasadena to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The site of the game was moved because spectators were not going to be permitted at the game in Pasadena because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Also, the New Mexico Bowl was relocated this year from Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Frisco, Texas, because spectators were not going to be permitted at the game in Albuquerque. The bowl will feature Hawaii playing Houston in Toyota Stadium on Thursday, December 24, at 2:30 pm. ESPN will televise the game.
In Fort Worth, the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl will pit No. 24 Tulsa against Mississippi State, in Amon G. Carter Stadium, on Thursday, December 31, at 11 am. ESPN will televise the game.
The
Texas Bowl will mark the 35th bowl appearance in TCU's history. The Horned
Frogs are 17-16-1 in bowl games
The bowl game will be TCU's 17th bowl game in 20 seasons under head coach Gary Patterson, and the 20th with Patterson on the staff. TCU went to a bowl all three seasons (1998-2000) when Patterson was defensive coordinator.
TCU is 11-6 in bowl games with Patterson as head coach. The Frogs are 13-6 in bowls with Patterson on its
coaching staff.
Patterson was named TCU's head coach prior to the 2000 Mobile Alabama Bowl.
Before Patterson's arrival at TCU in 1998, as the Frogs' defensive coordinator, the Horned Frogs had just four bowl wins in their history.
TCU's 11 bowl wins since 2000, all under Patterson, are tied for fourth nationally.
The Frogs’ last bowl appearance was in Phoenix, in the 2018 Cheez-It Bowl. TCU defeated Cal, 10-7, in overtime.
The Cheez-It Bowl now is played in Orlando, Florida, in Camping World Stadium.
TCU is
returning to Houston for a bowl game for the first time in 13 years. In the 2007 Texas Bowl, the Horned Frogs beat Houston, 20-13.
TCU has appeared in a bowl game in Houston four other times, twice in the Bluebonnet Bowl, losing to Clemson, 23-7, in 1959, and losing to West Virginia, 31-14, in 1984.
In the 2001 GalleryFurniture.com Bowl, the Frogs lost to Texas A&M, 28-9.
In the 2005 EV1.net Houston Bowl, TCU beat Iowa State, 27-24.
Longtime Southwest Conference (SWC) rivals, TCU and Arkansas will be meeting for the first time in a bowl game.
The Frogs and Razorbacks split a pair of recent contests, after not playing since 1991, the Razorbacks' final year in the SWC before leaving for the SEC. Arkansas beat TCU that year, 22-21, in Fort Worth.
In 2016, in Fort Worth, Arkansas beat TCU, 41-38, in double overtime.
In 2017, in Fayetteville, the Frogs beat the Hogs, 28-7. That game marked the first time the Horned Frogs played in Fayetteville since 1988, when they dropped a 53-10 decision.
In the 2016 and 2017 games, Arkansas' head coach was Bret Bielema. He also was the coach of Wisconsin, when the Frogs beat the Badgers, 21-19, in the Rose Bowl on January 1, 2011.
Bielema recently was named head coach of Illinois, replacing Lovie Smith, who was fired after the 2020 season.
Arkansas holds a 43-25-2 series edge over TCU in a rivalry that nearly is 100 years old.
TCU is 3-3 versus SEC opponents under Patterson.
Patterson is 1-1 versus the SEC in bowl games. The Frogs defeated Ole Miss, 42-3, in the 2014 Peach Bowl. TCU lost, 31-23, to Georgia in the 2016 Liberty Bowl.
For the Texas Bowl, the Frogs will be without junior tight end and recent TCU graduate Pro Wells. He is opting out of the bowl game to pursue a professional football career.
In addition, TCU linebacker Ben Wilson has entered the NCAA transfer portal.
Wilson is TCU’s seventh player to enter the transfer portal this season. Others are cornerback Tony Wallace, offensive lineman Quazzel White, quarterback Eli Williams and wide receivers Al’Dontre Davis, Te’Vailance Hunt and Dylan Thomas.
In last year's Houston Bowl, Texas A&M defeated Oklahoma State,24-21.
Rutgers defeated Kansas State, 37-10, in the inaugural Houston Bowl, in 2006.
Mercari, which is the bowl's title sponsor, is an online platform that connects millions of people across the U.S. to shop and sell items no longer being used.
Mercari has more than 50 million downloads in the U.S. and 350,000 new listings every day.
Mercari can be downloaded on app stores or accessed online: here
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