CFP National Championship: Why TCU is college football’s ultimate underdog

College football fans love a Cinderella story, and there are plenty of jaw-dropping stats and facts to prove that there’s never been one quite like this year’s TCU team.

Max Duggan and the Horned Frogs are currently listed as 12.5-point underdogs heading into Monday’s College Football Playoff National Championship Game against No. 1-ranked Georgia.

It is the ultimate David vs. Goliath story as Georgia is looking to become the first program in 10 years to repeat as back-to-back national champions, while TCU is looking to capture the school’s first national title in 84 years.

Here are 10 fun facts that should help put TCU’s improbable run to this year’s national championship game into perspective.

1. TCU is the first Big 12 team to reach the national championship game in the College Football Playoff era.

2. If TCU beats Georgia, the Horned Frogs would be the first team since Georgia Tech in 1990 to enter the college football season unranked and win a national championship.

3. TCU’s 51-45 victory over Michigan in the Fiesta Bowl marked the largest upset in CFP history. The Horned Frogs were listed as eight-point underdogs heading into the game.

4. TCU is listed at +12.5 heading into Monday’s national championship game, which marks the largest point spread for any CFP or BCS championship game. The previous high came when Miami was 12-point favorites over Ohio State in the 2002 BCS Championship Game.

5. TCU is the first team from the talent-rich state of Texas to ever play in a College Football Playoff National Championship Game. The Horned Frogs are the first program from the state to play in any national championship game since the Texas Longhorns back in 2009.

6. TCU coach Sonny Dykes became the first head coach in Big 12 history to go 12-0 in his first season. He is just the fourth head coach nationally since 1996 to accomplish the feat.

Can TCU threaten Georgia in the National Title game?

Joel Klatt discussed the matchup between the TCU Horned Frogs vs. the Georgia Bulldogs. TCU will need an explosive player to threaten Georgia.

7. With a victory over Georgia in the national championship game, Dykes would become just the second college football coach ever to win 14 games in his first season. The other is former Penn coach George Washington Woodruff, back in 1892.

8. TCU is looking to become just the fifth team in college football history to win a national championship after having a losing record the previous season. The other schools to do so include Michigan State (1962), USC (1961) and Minnesota (1960 and 1940).

9. TCU is the first program in 46 years to win seven straight games by 10 points or fewer. The last team to accomplish such a feat was Colgate back in 1976.

10. TCU entered the 2022 college football season listed at +20000 (bet $10 to win $2,010 total) at FOX Bet to win the national title.

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