TCU Football: Could The Frogs Be Headed Back To The Peach Bowl

Could the TCU Horned Frogs be headed back to Atlanta for another appearance in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl? In 2014, in the inaugural season of the new College Football Playoff, TCU missed out on the semifinals. As a consolation prize, TCU was invited to the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl in Atlanta in a game against Ole Miss. The Horned Frogs dominated the Rebels, winning 42-7.

The Peach Bowl will host one of the CFP semifinal games this year. It will either feature the No. 1 team versus the No. 4 team or the No. 2 team versus the No. 3 team.

In this week’s College Football Playoffs (CFP) rankings, Georgia is No. 1, followed by Ohio State and Michigan. TCU jumped from the No. 7 spot last week to the No. 4 spot this week, thanks to losses by Tennessee, Clemson, and Alabama.

If those rankings did not change over the next four weeks, TCU would meet Georgia in the CFP semifinal. The other semifinal game is the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona. The top team gets to play their semifinal at the bowl game closest to their campus, which in Georgia’s case would be the Peach Bowl in Atlanta.

Earlier this week, KillerFrogs sat down with Gary Stokan, President and CEO of the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl, to discuss the first rankings released last week and what it means to host a CFP semifinal game. But first, the conversation started with how TCU’s season is going thus far.

“I give great credit to Coach Dykes and what he has done with TCU,” said Stokan. “Look at how successful they have been and how he and the team have put them in a position to meet their destiny to be in the CFP Playoffs. I give great credit to them, the coaching staff, and the administration there at TCU.”

“It’s been a fun team to watch, obviously,” he continued talking about TCU’s season. "They sure make it interesting for TCU fans, though. It’s a big weekend with Texas and GameDay. It will be a huge day for TCU.”

The Peach Bowl was a matchup between SEC and ACC teams for years. In 2014, the first year of the CFP, the Peach Bowl moved from that matchup to be one of the NY6 Bowls, with participants determined by the CFP committee. That first game was the one featuring TCU and Ole Miss.

When the bowl was not part of the CFP, Stokan oversaw the selection process and went through a similar evaluation process that the CFP committee does now. Now, all teams are determined by the committee, and the bowl game staff does not receive advance notice of which teams will be playing in their bowl.

“In 2014, I called Bill Hancock (then executive director of the College Football Playoff) and said, ‘On Saturday or Sunday morning, you will let me know whom we have, right?’,” Stokan recalled. “He laughed and said, ‘Gary, you will find out what teams you are hosting when the rest of America finds out.’”

Stokan says he’s looking forward to welcoming whichever teams end up in Atlanta. “It’s kind of nice for us to host teams like TCU, Michigan, or Washington – teams from outside of the state of Georgia come here,” he said.

“We are the fourth largest convention town in the nation behind Chicago, Las Vegas, and Orlando,” said Stokan. “But, yet four of the top six conventions/events in this town on an annual basis are typically our two Chick-Fil-A kickoff games at the beginning of the season, the SEC Championship Game, and the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl. It’s a huge economic impact driver. This year we will do close to $100 million in economic impact. It’s a huge economic engine for the city of Atlanta.”

When asked what he remembered about TCU in 2014, Stokan laughed and said, “I remember the Frog (horn) with the lights. We put it in the tunnel. TCU did a great job. They sold all their tickets. We give 12,500 tickets to each school. They go from the 50-yard line, up and over to the endzone. They get the best seats in the house. That’s what we will have ready for whoever plays in the semifinal. The teams get the best tickets. TCU sold out in 2014, and I have no doubt they would do it should they play in the CFA Peach Bowl again this year.”

The Peach Bowl, created in 1968 as the ninth bowl game, was the first created to give back to charity. “Our main focus is how do we raise money to donate money back through scholarships and charity through using college football,” said Stokan.

“Since 2002, we have donated more than $60 million to charity and scholarships,” said Stokan. $20 Million has been given to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta to find cures and tests to end childhood cancer. We now have 12 kids in seven trials. It’s kind of amazing. But that’s who we are.”

There’s a lot of football still to play this season. On December 4, the CFP committee will announce the four teams playing in the two semifinals and the eight teams playing in the four other NY6 bowls. The Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl will be ready to welcome whichever teams. And the TCU Horned Frogs will hope for another trip to Atlanta.

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