Revisiting Big 12's last national championship: TCU can break 17-year title drought with win over Georgia

Zac Al-Khateeb

Revisiting Big 12's last national championship: TCU can break 17-year title drought with win over Georgia image

TCU has a chance to break one of the longest-running droughts in college football.

The Horned Frogs, members of the Big 12 since the 2012 season, have a chance to give the conference its first national title since before TCU was a voting member. All that stands in the way of the third-ranked Horned Frogs is No. 1 Georgia, which itself is looking to become the first repeat national champion in nearly a decade.

Sonny Dykes, Max Duggan and Co. have quite the task ahead of them — as well as 17 years of pent-up frustrations on the part of the Big 12, which will soon lose its top two historic football programs, Texas and Oklahoma, to the SEC. A win by the Horned Frogs would be a wonderful parting shot to the soon-to-be-gone Longhorns and Sooners, who have floundered on the national title stage in recent seasons.

The Horned Frogs likely won't think of that as they take on the Bulldogs in SoFi Stadium, but the Big 12 certainly wouldn't hate for TCU to give the conference an extra bit of credibility as college football enters a new world of realignment that will fracture geographic ties to the sport forever.

MORE: Watch Georgia vs. TCU live on fuboTV (free trial)

With that, The Sporting News looks as the Big 12's maligned national championship history over the last decade-and-a-half:

When was the last time the Big 12 won a national championship?

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Texas has the distinction of winning the conference's last national championship in football. The Longhorns beat top-ranked USC in the 2006 Rose Bowl to claim the undisputed national title for the 2005 season.

Prior to Texas' national title, the Big 12 had claimed championships in 2000 (Oklahoma) and 1997 (Nebraska). The Cornhuskers also won titles in 1994-95 as members of the former Big Eight Conference, which joined with several former Southwest Conference teams to form the modern Big 12 in 1996.

No team from the Big 12 has won a national championship since ... though several teams have come agonizingly close in the 16 years since.

MORE: What is a horned frog? Explaining TCU's nickname, mascot & logos for football program

Big 12 national championship history

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The Big 12 has come close to claiming a national championship on several occasions since Texas' last title in 2005. But the conference has gone 1-6 in BCS championship game and College Football Playoff appearances, with TCU's win over No. 2 Michigan in the 2022 Fiesta Bowl being the first victory.

Indeed, TCU is the first Big 12 team to advance past the CFP semifinal game in five attempts. (Much to the chagrin of Longhorns fans, the Horned Frogs are also the first team from the state of Texas to play in the College Football Playoff, let alone the CFP championship).

Here is the Big 12's history of national championship and College Football Playoff appearances since 2005:

Year Team BCS/CFP game Final result
2008 Oklahoma 2009 BCS championship game 24-14 loss to No. 1 Florida
2009 Texas 2010 BCS championship game 37-21 loss to No. 1 Alabama
2015 Oklahoma 2015 Orange Bowl semifinal 37-17 loss to No. 1 Clemson
2017 Oklahoma 2017 Rose Bowl semifinal 54-48 OT loss to No. 3 Georgia
2018 Oklahoma 2018 Orange Bowl semifinal 45-34 loss to No. 1 Alabama
2019 Oklahoma 2019 Peach Bowl semifinal 63-28 loss to No. 1 LSU
2022 TCU 2022 Fiesta Bowl semifinal 51-45 win over No. 2 Michigan
2022 TCU 2023 CFP championship game TBD vs. No. 1 Georgia

Power 5 conferences' most recent national championship

Among the Power 5 conferences, only the Pac-12 has a longer national championship drought than the Big 12. The Pac-12 hasn't won since 2004, whereas the Big 12 hasn't won since 2005.

Since the latter season, the SEC has 12 national championships, while the ACC has claimed three (Florida State in 2013, Clemson in 2016 and 2018). The Big Ten has one, won by Ohio State in 2014.

Conference Most recent championship National title team
SEC 2021 Georgia
ACC 2018 Clemson
Big Ten 2014 Ohio State
Big 12 2005 Texas
Pac-12 2004* USC*

*USC was the last Pac-12 team to win a national championship as determined by the BCS or College Football Playoff, in 2004. The Trojans' 55-19 victory over Oklahoma in the championship has since been vacated.

Zac Al-Khateeb

Zac Al-Khateeb Photo

Zac Al-Khateeb has been part of The Sporting News team since 2015 after earning his Bachelor's (2013) and Master's (2014) degrees in journalism at the University of Alabama. Prior to joining TSN, he covered high school sports and general news in Alabama. A college sports specialist, Zac has been a voter for the Biletnikoff Award and Heisman Trophy since 2020.