TCU has arguably one of the best home field advantages in the NCAA, and the numbers attest to it.
It was December 6, 2014 – the TCU Horned Frogs had just won their first ever Big 12 conference championship. Chris Del Conte handed head coach Gary Patterson the microphone. His words will resonate with anyone that was there forever.
“I love you guys.”
Those four words were met with thunderous cheers and applause.
This was TCU’s first successful year in the Big 12, and the fans were definitely excited. That excitement continued when TCU thrashed Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl and continued into the next season ranked No. 2 in the nation.
Recently, TCU football has had what can only be called one of the best home field advantages in the country. In the past two years, TCU is a combined 22-3. All three losses came on the road. TCU football has won 13 straight games at Amon G. Carter Stadium.
The 13-0 record TCU has posted since 2014 gives the Horned Frogs the best home field record in the Big 12 during that time span. The 13-0 record is also good enough for the third longest current home winning streak in the country.
Head coach Gary Patterson praised the student section after the 28-21 victory double overtime victory over the Baylor Bears.
“Especially the student section, it was just outstanding,” said Patterson in his postgame press conference. “They were just outstanding, it was definitely a ‘we’ victory.”
Will Forsythe, a senior film major, said the reason for TCU’s success at home is because the students and fans are very protective of their home turf.
“When we play at home we have to ‘Defend the Carter,’” Forsythe said. “Beating our rivals on their own turf is great, but showing them that TCU and Fort Worth is ‘Frog Country’…nothing else is better.”
Amy Cusimano, a senior child development major, said that a reason the students are so involved in the team is because of the community that TCU has established between fans and players.
“I think TCU is unique because we are a much smaller school so we actually know our football players,” Cusimano said.
“I know for me I’ve become more involved because I lived in the same dorm as many of them so I feel like I know them,” Cusimano said.
But the success of playing at home hasn’t been limited to just the football team.
The TCU volleyball team has also had an amazing amount of success while at home. In the past two years, TCU had a record of 36-24. Playing at home, their record was 22-5.
TCU’s .815 winning percentage over the past two years is good enough for third in the Big 12 over that time span.
A lot of the success of the volleyball team stems from where the team plays.
The volleyball team calls the University Recreation Center home, and it has a capacity of over 1,900. This season, TCU hosted 11 home matches, sold out all 11 of those matches and went 9-2.
Chris Conaty, a junior marketing and management double major, mentioned the TCU vs Oklahoma volleyball match as what convinced him of the home court advantage TCU has.
TCU started the match up 2-0, but dropped the third and fourth set, forcing the deciding fifth set. During the fifth set Conaty said that the fans really started to get excited and pushed the team on to victory.
“If [the athletes] see those passionate fans cheering them on, then it takes their play to another level,” Conaty said.
Similarly, TCU’s baseball program has experienced a tremendous amount of success while playing at home.
Over the last two seasons, TCU has had a 60-12 record at home, an .833 win percentage, and a 33-4 record at home during the 2015 season, an .892 win percentage, and good enough for the number one home win percentage in the country.
Jay Richards, a senior secondary education major, said that TCU’s winning ability at home makes him proud to be a Horned Frog.
“Seeing those statistics makes me proud that the Horned Frog fan base, like myself, can have such an impact on the school’s athletic success,” Richards said.
