TCU Sets Sights on Baylor in Rivalry Showdown After Bye Week

TCU had much-needed time off during its second bye week of the season and now switches its focus to the final stretch of its season.

The first five games for the Horned Frogs have gone every which way, with most not falling in their favor.

In his fifth season, head coach Sonny Dykes is off to his worse start through five games at 2-3 overall and 0-2 in the Big 12.

It is the first time the Horned Frogs have dropped three matchups before the second week of October since 2023, which is also the last time they have started 0-2 in conference play.

Out of its final week off, TCU hopes to finally correct some issues that have kept it from ending on the right side of the results.

Despite this uncertain spot, the first opponent awaiting the Horned Frogs out of the open spot is an all-too-familiar one.

Baylor welcomes TCU to Waco for the annual renewal of their longtime rivalry on Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. CT inside McLane Stadium.

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The Bears are also fresh off their bye week, but they have had a much different path leading up to the midseason break.

Following a one-point loss to Auburn in Atlanta to begin the season, Baylor has ripped off five wins in a row to land squarely in the mix for the Big 12 title.

In their most recent outing, the Bears went into Tempe and hung 55 points on Arizona State in a 55-19 drubbing to stay unbeaten within the conference.

Although Baylor has the edge in record and outside perception, history has proven that nothing can be taken for granted when these two foes meet.

This Saturday's meeting marks the 89th all-time matchup between the Horned Frogs and Bears, with TCU holding the 48-36-3 advantage.

TCU also holds the recent edge after posting a dominant 8-2 record over the last 10 meetings.

However, Baylor won the last time the Horned Frogs came to Waco in a narrow 37-34 victory in 2024.

And the Bears have been much more competitive than the two-win performance would indicate.

In those 10 aforementioned games, six of them were decided by one score and seven were within 10 points or less.

That includes a triple-overtime thriller that ended in a 29-23 win for Baylor in Fort Worth back in 2019, which is its lone other win in that 10-game stretch.

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This year's TCU and Baylor teams are no stranger to one-possession games, as the Horned Frogs and Bears have been in more than their fair share so far this season.

Every game against a Power 4 opponent has ended within a single score for TCU and it failed to earn the win in any of those close contests.

Meanwhile, Baylor has also found itself tight against each of its Power 4 foes, with the exception of Arizona State, but the Bears have bested all of them besides the Tigers.

If TCU wants to turn its season around against the team it arguably knows better than any other, it will need to not only buck season-long trends but rewrite recent history in the series with the Bears.