Kirk Herbstreit puts TCU's status as an underdog in tremendous historical perspective

Nobody foresaw TCU making a run to the College Football Playoff in year one of the Sonny Dykes era. Not only did the Horned Frogs succeed in that accomplishment — they also handed Michigan a loss in the semifinal and will play for the National Championship tonight. An unreal rise for this team this year.

But off-the-radar programs like TCU have made the CFP before. Cincinnati, of all teams, made it last year, Michigan State and Iowa have both gotten in before, Washington had their turn. The difference is none of those clubs won the semifinal game. Instead, they received their predicted thrashings from the true contenders before even sniffing the title game. Not the case for TCU, who handed Michigan their first loss since last year’s playoff en route to a title game appearance.

Ahead of the game, ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit was asked: Is TCU is the biggest cinderella of the CFP era? Per Herby, yes they are.

You can read his full response and reasoning right here:

Kirk Herbstreit on TCU as a Cinderella

“Not to this level, no. And I wish The Bear [Chris Fallica] was on here. He could probably tell us off the top of his head who these big underdogs have been that make it. Cincinnati of course was in a semi, but not all the way to the title. I can’t remember this big of underdog off the top of my head. I remember when Ohio State played Miami in ’02, they were a pretty big underdog, but they were still Ohio State, still with that big brand.

“So, no man, I really can’t, and not to mention if you go back, not just to this week, but you bring up a good point. If you go back to August, how many people were in Las Vegas saying, ‘Yeah, let me put $10 down on TCU to win national title?’ I don’t know if anybody was, including their own fan base.

“And think of their story. Max Duggan is a guy that’s been around for four years, and he doesn’t even start with a new coaching staff to start the season to break camp. They go with Chandler Morris, and he gets dinged up and they go back to Duggan. That gives you an idea of what they thought of Max Duggan. And then he becomes the leader and the face of his team and a Heisman finalist.

“So yeah, this is a team that’s kind of been against all odds all year, and don’t tell them they don’t have a chance Monday night. Actually, tell them that. I think they like to hear it, because it seems to fire them up. But if anybody does an article on how many four stars and five stars are on the two rosters, you would think, ‘Why are we even playing the game on Monday night?’ But as we all know, it’s more about how a team comes together and what it ends up becoming. And TCU’s a great example of that.”