TCU is the newcomer in this year's College Football Playoff. Georgia and Michigan were both on this stage last year, while Ohio State regularly competes for championships.
Fans know the bulldog, wolverine and buckeye well. But, what about the horned frog? On Monday night, the Horned Frogs will be playing for a national championship.
TCU's odd nickname is just arriving on the national scene, but it's certainly not new to the school. The Sporting News explains where the nickname originated and how long it has been used by TCU's football team.
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What is a horned frog?
"Horned Frogs," in fact, refers to the Texas horned lizard, which is most commonly found in the south central United States and northeastern Mexico. A Texas horned lizard is neither a frog nor a toad, but its frog-like appearance has made "horned frog" a common nickname.
Do Texas horned lizards have horns? In essence, yes. Bone sticks out to form "horns" toward the top of the lizard's head, and smaller horns can be found down the rest of the body.
Texas horned lizards tend to be camouflage in color, and they can fend off predators by puffing up and making themselves difficult to swallow.
Texas horned lizards primarily eat ants and other small insects. On Saturday, a different type of Horned Frogs will be hunting Wolverines in the Fiesta Bowl.
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When did TCU adopt the horned frog nickname?
While the Horned Frogs may be new to the College Football Playoff, the nickname is more than century old at TCU. The school first adopted it in 1897, when TCU was still known as Add-Ran Christian University.
According to the TCU admissions website, "legend has it that the football field was covered in the small-but-mighty horned lizards" when the school was looking to title its annual yearbook in 1897. The football program launched in 1896.
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The horned frog was included on TCU's first seal in 1915 and was widely used to represent the school after World War II.
While TCU's primary athletics logo is just the "TCU" wordmark, the school has used numerous secondary logos depicting an angry horned frog over the years.
What is TCU's mascot?
TCU's mascot is SuperFrog, and it's anatomically accurate. While the gray-black color might not be an accurate representation of the Texas horned lizard, the horns around the head are similar to those of a Texas horned lizard.
SuperFrog's appearance has changed numerous times over the years.
When TCU football had a dominant run with Andy Dalton at quarterback more than a decade ago, SuperFrog was a much lighter beige-white color. In addition, SuperFrog was named Addy the All-American Frog until 1979.
As of 2017, as many as six TCU students will don the SuperFrog costume during a school year.
