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Teams / Big 12 / TCU
Index · this season
69
▼ Below its 5-year level -5
Career68since 1936
Peak932014
Last 574seasons
#51 nationally · 2-3 (0-2 conf)
Résumé #88 · better than its record
Schedule so far #58
Margin ±5 pts (tightens with games)
Why 69? →

TCU Horned Frogs

Big 12 · Fort Worth, TX · Amon G. Carter Stadium · Head coach Sonny Dykes
Rival
Baylor · also SMU
Established rivalry
60-50-5 all time (115 meetings since 1903)
TCU leads
Last: won 42-36 (2025)
Holds it
program traits are earned from history
Recognized national titles: 1938. Counted: AP poll champion, a coaches-poll champion, or the BCS / playoff title-game winner; a split year counts for both. The school claims 2.1national titles
Heisman Trophy winners1Heisman
Seasons finishing in the AP top 10 since 193611AP top-10
Consensus All-Americans since 193614All-Americans
NFL draft picks since 196798NFL picks
Winning percentage since 193650.7%win pct
History since 1936 · football since 1903. Every season →
Chemistry
Chem 60: typical60
Chem 63: typical
63Foundation
Chem 55: typical
55Gel
gel counts 40% so far
▼ Below its norm -6Trending up
early · #61 of 138
HC year5
Ret. starters41%
QB yrs w/ OC1
View chemistry →
Team chemistryearly · #61 of 138 FBS teams
Chem 63: typicalFoundation63+Chem 55: typicalGel55=Chem 60: typicalChem60Gel counts 40% so far (it grows as games are played, up to half)
Foundationwhat the program has built · moves over seasons
Foundation63Staff stability — Coach and coordinator tenure, staff who came along, assistant turnoverStaff stability62Roster continuity — Returning starters and the lineup's experienceRoster continuity66Unit cohesion — QB & coordinator, QB & receivers, offensive line, defense: how long each unit has played togetherUnit cohesion63Administration — Athletic director continuity and coach-AD alignmentAdministration49Investment — Commitment to football: its share of the department's spending and whether that is growing, plus spending and recruitingInvestment58Fan base — How passionate and loyal the fan base is: how often it sells out, and whether it sells out games that don't matterFan base72
ContinuityClimate
Continuity · who has played and coached togetherlive

Who has played and coached together, and for how long, ranked against every FBS team at the same point of the season.

▸Staff stability
Coach and coordinator tenure, staff who came along, assistant turnover
62
Staff cohesion71
HC year 5 · OC year 1 · DC year 3
Assistant turnover52
52% of on-field staff new this season (FBS average about 45%)
▸Roster continuity
Returning starters and the lineup's experience
66
Returning core69
41% of last season's starters · FBS median 32%
Experience64
12 career starts per starter · FBS median 12
▸Unit cohesion
QB & coordinator, QB & receivers, offensive line, defense: how long each unit has played together
63
QB & coordinator55
1st season together · same as 76% of FBS teams
QB & receivers64
4.0 games started together on average · FBS median 3.9
Line cohesion54
4.2 games per linemen pair · FBS median 5.2
Defensive cohesion83
6.6 games per defensive pair · FBS median 4.5
Climate · around the programlive

The administration, money and fans around the team: athletic director continuity, willingness to invest, and crowds.

▸Administration
Athletic director continuity and coach-AD alignment
49
AD continuity49
Mike Buddie · year 2 (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)
▸Investment
Commitment to football: its share of the department's spending and whether that is growing, plus spending and recruiting
58
Football's share85
38% of department spending goes to football
Investment trend19
-2% over three years
Football investment80
$59.6M on football (2024-25 federal report)
Recruiting spend64
$1.64M men's recruiting
Department resources71
$156M athletic department revenue
▸Fan base
How passionate and loyal the fan base is: how often it sells out, and whether it sells out games that don't matter
72
Sellouts72
sellout crowds (95%+ of capacity) at 22 of 42 home games (last 8 seasons)
Sells out anyway72
sellout crowds at 12 of 24 games that didn't matter: cupcakes, or a team expected to lose or having a losing season

Finances: U.S. Department of Education athletics disclosures, as reported by each school. Athletic directors: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Attendance: reported crowds vs stadium capacity.

Gelhow it is working right now · moves week to week
Gel55Playing above its parts — Results vs what its preseason projection expected, game by gamePlaying above its parts54Settled & sharp — A settled starting lineup and clean execution (penalties, turnovers) vs its own normalSettled & sharp73Alignment — Coaches and players telling the same story; the staff on one pageAlignmentsoonResilience — Confidence, and how the team sounds after adversityResiliencesoonFan & media mood — Expectations met or missed this season (preseason rank vs now), stronger for fan bases that react hard; fan and media sentiment joins laterFan & media mood37Coach security — The hard-facts hot seat, inverted: results vs expectation, recent seasons vs the program's norm, stakes, a new ADCoach security46
InternalOn-field fitExternal
Internal · how the program talkscoming

How the team talks in press conferences and interviews, each program against its own normal, so a naturally terse coach isn't read as upset. Being built program by program, Big Ten first.

▸Alignment
Coaches and players telling the same story; the staff on one page
soon
Coming: measured from press conferences and interviews.
▸Resilience
Confidence, and how the team sounds after adversity
soon
Coming: measured from press conferences and interviews.

Readings are team-level; we don't publish psychological readings of individual players.

On-field fit · how it is playing togetherlive

How the team is playing together this season: beating or missing its preseason expectation, a settled lineup, clean execution.

▸Playing above its parts
Results vs what its preseason projection expected, game by game
54
This season54
-2.7 points a game vs its preseason projection (4 games)
▸Settled & sharp
A settled starting lineup and clean execution (penalties, turnovers) vs its own normal
73
This season73
91% of starters kept game to game
External · pressure from outsidelive

Pressure from outside the building: the hard-facts hot seat now; this season's fan and media mood as it is measured.

▸Fan & media mood
Expectations met or missed this season (preseason rank vs now), stronger for fan bases that react hard; fan and media sentiment joins later
37
This season37
outside the AP poll: projected #41 preseason -> #51 in our Index now · rival week vs Baylor (+4) · results 2-3 (-6, recent games count more) · projected for a bowl (6.7 wins preseason), now projects 4.7 (-10)
▸Coach security
The hard-facts hot seat, inverted: results vs expectation, recent seasons vs the program's norm, stakes, a new AD
46
This season46
Sonny Dykes, year 5 · 40% wins so far · -2.7 pts a game vs preseason expectation · last two seasons +5% vs the program's norm

Dashed gold ring = typical (62). 20-50 is the warning zone; under 10 is a collapse. Spokes with no data yet are dashed and left out until they fill in. Chem blends the two halves, then places the blend among this season's teams.

Trend · Foundationeach program year runs Feb 1 to the title game
'1670'1783'1857'1962'2060'2167'2272'2365'2465'2563'262016 wk 1 vs South Dakota State: 78 · W2016 wk 2 vs Arkansas: 85 · L2016 wk 3 vs Iowa State: 73 · W2016 wk 4 vs SMU: 79 · W2016 wk 5 vs Oklahoma: 81 · L2016 wk 6 vs Kansas: 78 · W2016 wk 8 vs West Virginia: 81 · L2016 wk 9 vs Texas Tech: 78 · L2016 wk 10 vs Baylor: 77 · W2016 wk 12 vs Oklahoma State: 78 · L2016 wk 13 vs Texas: 82 · W2016 wk 14 vs Kansas State: 83 · L2016 wk 1 vs Georgia: 70 · L2017 wk 2 vs Arkansas: 82 · W2017 wk 3 vs SMU: 84 · W2017 wk 4 vs Oklahoma State: 84 · W2017 wk 6 vs West Virginia: 85 · W2017 wk 7 vs Kansas State: 83 · W2017 wk 8 vs Kansas: 85 · W2017 wk 9 vs Iowa State: 84 · L2017 wk 10 vs Texas: 86 · W2017 wk 11 vs Oklahoma: 84 · L2017 wk 12 vs Texas Tech: 86 · W2017 wk 13 vs Baylor: 74 · W2017 wk 14 vs Oklahoma: 80 · L2017 wk 1 vs Stanford: 83 · W2018 wk 2 vs SMU: 64 · W2018 wk 3 vs Ohio State: 64 · L2018 wk 4 vs Texas: 65 · L2018 wk 5 vs Iowa State: 64 · W2018 wk 7 vs Texas Tech: 60 · L2018 wk 8 vs Oklahoma: 59 · L2018 wk 9 vs Kansas: 61 · L2018 wk 10 vs Kansas State: 61 · W2018 wk 11 vs West Virginia: 58 · L2018 wk 12 vs Baylor: 61 · W2018 wk 13 vs Oklahoma State: 61 · W2018 wk 1 vs California: 57 · W2019 wk 3 vs Purdue: 62 · W2019 wk 4 vs SMU: 63 · L2019 wk 5 vs Kansas: 63 · W2019 wk 6 vs Iowa State: 62 · L2019 wk 8 vs Kansas State: 65 · L2019 wk 9 vs Texas: 64 · W2019 wk 10 vs Oklahoma State: 64 · L2019 wk 11 vs Baylor: 63 · L2019 wk 12 vs Texas Tech: 63 · W2019 wk 13 vs Oklahoma: 62 · L2019 wk 14 vs West Virginia: 62 · L2020 wk 5 vs Texas: 58 · W2020 wk 6 vs Kansas State: 59 · L2020 wk 8 vs Oklahoma: 62 · L2020 wk 9 vs Baylor: 60 · W2020 wk 10 vs Texas Tech: 59 · W2020 wk 11 vs West Virginia: 60 · L2020 wk 13 vs Kansas: 58 · W2020 wk 14 vs Oklahoma State: 58 · W2020 wk 15 vs Louisiana Tech: 60 · W2021 wk 2 vs California: 70 · W2021 wk 4 vs SMU: 70 · L2021 wk 5 vs Texas: 69 · L2021 wk 6 vs Texas Tech: 69 · W2021 wk 7 vs Oklahoma: 68 · L2021 wk 8 vs West Virginia: 69 · L2021 wk 9 vs Kansas State: 70 · L2021 wk 10 vs Baylor: 69 · W2021 wk 11 vs Oklahoma State: 66 · L2021 wk 12 vs Kansas: 65 · W2021 wk 13 vs Iowa State: 67 · L2022 wk 2 vs Tarleton State: 68 · W2022 wk 4 vs SMU: 71 · W2022 wk 5 vs Oklahoma: 71 · W2022 wk 6 vs Kansas: 71 · W2022 wk 7 vs Oklahoma State: 70 · W2022 wk 8 vs Kansas State: 71 · W2022 wk 9 vs West Virginia: 71 · W2022 wk 10 vs Texas Tech: 71 · W2022 wk 11 vs Texas: 72 · W2022 wk 12 vs Baylor: 72 · W2022 wk 13 vs Iowa State: 71 · W2022 wk 14 vs Kansas State: 70 · L2022 wk 1 vs Michigan: 69 · W2022 wk 1 vs Georgia: 72 · L2023 wk 2 vs Nicholls: 66 · W2023 wk 3 vs Houston: 66 · W2023 wk 4 vs SMU: 67 · W2023 wk 5 vs West Virginia: 67 · L2023 wk 6 vs Iowa State: 65 · L2023 wk 7 vs BYU: 66 · W2023 wk 8 vs Kansas State: 64 · L2023 wk 10 vs Texas Tech: 65 · L2023 wk 11 vs Texas: 67 · L2023 wk 12 vs Baylor: 66 · W2023 wk 13 vs Oklahoma: 65 · L2024 wk 2 vs Long Island University: 64 · W2024 wk 3 vs UCF: 65 · L2024 wk 4 vs SMU: 65 · L2024 wk 5 vs Kansas: 66 · W2024 wk 6 vs Houston: 66 · L2024 wk 8 vs Utah: 66 · W2024 wk 9 vs Texas Tech: 67 · W2024 wk 10 vs Baylor: 67 · L2024 wk 11 vs Oklahoma State: 66 · W2024 wk 13 vs Arizona: 67 · W2024 wk 14 vs Cincinnati: 67 · W2024 wk 1 vs Louisiana: 65 · W2025 wk 3 vs Abilene Christian: 66 · W2025 wk 4 vs SMU: 67 · W2025 wk 5 vs Arizona State: 67 · L2025 wk 6 vs Colorado: 66 · W2025 wk 7 vs Kansas State: 66 · L2025 wk 8 vs Baylor: 68 · W2025 wk 9 vs West Virginia: 67 · W2025 wk 11 vs Iowa State: 66 · L2025 wk 12 vs BYU: 65 · L2025 wk 13 vs Houston: 68 · W2025 wk 14 vs Cincinnati: 66 · W2025 wk 1 vs USC: 63 · W2026 wk 2 vs Grambling: 58 · W2026 wk 3 vs Arkansas State: 58 · W2026 wk 4 vs UCF: 62 · L2026 wk 5 vs BYU: 63 · L2026 wk 7 vs Baylor: 63 · next gametypical 62

Every game since 2016, one continuous line; thin rules separate seasons and the chip is where each season finished. Navy dot = win, red = loss. Big drops usually mean a new staff, a new quarterback or a rebuilt line.

Trend · Gelthis season, after each game
typical 62wk 1 · on-field 45 · fan mood 18351wk 2 vs Grambling · W · on-field 58 · fan mood 37502wk 3 vs Arkansas State · W · on-field 68 · fan mood 50613wk 4 vs UCF · L · on-field 60 · fan mood 36514wk 5 vs BYU · L · on-field 69 · fan mood 40585

How the team is working right now, rebuilt after each game from only the games so far: on-field fit (results vs preseason expectation, lineup settling, execution) and that week's fan & media mood. Coach security is part of today's Gel number but isn't rebuilt week by week yet. Navy frame = win, red = loss.

Continuity facts
Head coach
Year 5
at this school
Offensive coordinator
Year 1
new this season
Defensive coordinator
Year 3
at this school
HC & OC together
1 seasons
working together
QB with his OC
1 seasons
same play-caller
QB & receivers
4.0 games
started together, average
Offensive line pairs
4.2 games
started together, average
Returning starters
41%
from last season
Starter experience
12 starts
career average
Internal facts
Pressers read
soon
this season, coaches and players
Coach tone
soon
vs his own normal
"We" vs "I"
soon
share of team language
Owning mistakes
soon
vs pointing outward
Same story
soon
coaches and players agree
After losses
soon
how fast tone recovers
Leaders named
soon
players teammates point to
Newcomers
soon
transfers talked about as part of it
Openness
soon
forthcoming vs guarded
Measured from press conferences and interviews, program by program.
Climate facts
Athletic director
Mike Buddie
year 2
Football spending
$59.6M
2024-25 federal report
Spending trend
-2%
over three years
Department revenue
$156M
all sports
Recruiting spend
$1.64M
men's teams
Home crowds
—
of capacity
Staff turnover
52%
on-field staff new this season
Fan mood
soon
fans and local media
Coach & AD
soon
on the same page
Finances: U.S. Department of Education athletics disclosures. Athletic directors: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Offense · games started togetherlatest lineup · 11 starters
Craig
Payne
Scott
Small
Kaiuway
Pimpton
McKinney
Powers
Buchanon
Taylor-Whitfield
Registe
QBJaden Craig55551553554
RBJeremy Payne5105515555104
WRJeremy Scott55551553554
WREd Small55561553564
TELafayette Kaiuway11111111111
TEKa'Morreun Pimpton55551553554
OLNoah McKinney55551553554
OLCooper Powers35331336363
OLJaheim Buchanon55551553554
OLBen Taylor-Whitfield5105615565284
OLKilian Registe44441443444

Each square: games the two players have started together at this school (darker = more). Gray diagonal: the player's own starts here.

Defense · games started togetherlatest lineup · 11 starters
Oyewale
Deal
Din-Mbuh
Schobel
Carroll
Hooper
Glover
Johnson
Lester
Jackson
Simms
DLPaul Oyewale179855498555
DLMarkis Deal925175641823755
DLAnsel Din-Mbuh817175641716755
DLJohn Schobel55555454555
LBMax Carroll56656465555
LBHudson Hooper44444443444
DBVernon Glover Jr.918175641817755
DBJamel Johnson823164531729644
DBJordan Lester57755476755
DBGil Jackson Jr.55555454555
DBJulius Simms55555454555

Each square: games the two players have started together at this school (darker = more). Gray diagonal: the player's own starts here.

Chemistry is Scorebook's own rating of how well a program fits together, on the same all-time 0-99 scale as our other ratings (compared with every FBS team since 2016; 62 is typical, 20-50 signals something is wrong, and single digits are reserved for true collapses; each season is compared with its own era). This early version blends continuity (who has played and coached together, and for how long; it counts most) with the climate around the program; how the program talks joins as it is measured. Within continuity, quarterback-centered pairings count most because they held up when we tested them against results. How our ratings work →