The Texas Christian University Horned Frogs. Who would have thought? The No. 1 ranked Georgia Bulldogs facing off against the TCU Horned Frogs in the College Football National Championship. This match-up wasn’t what everyone had in mind, but here we are. “Probability does not equal reality,” is what Coach Smart always said, and that’s exactly what we’re looking at.

Most people know the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Michigan Wolverines, the other two natty contenders, they’re national brands. All credit to the Horned Frogs, but I wouldn’t say they’re there yet. But that leaves the question, who exactly are the 2022 TCU Horned Frogs?

Just last year, the Frogs were 5-7, but a new head coach and a Heisman finalist quarterback in Sonny Dykes and Max Duggan changed some things.

Coach Smart said this team is much like Georgia’s team. Both Dykes and Smart have both built teams with a strong culture and belief in themselves, and Smart spoke to that in a teleconference yesterday:

“They have, I feel like just treading and listening about them, a lot of similarities to our kids in terms of the culture they created there the way they play, the way they believe.”

So culturally, Smart believes there are some similarities. But there’s more than just that.

TCU is also regarded for its defense. The Frogs have the 4th best defense in their respective Big Twelve conference. They’ve gotten this far with a 3-3-5 scheme, unlike most defenses the Dawgs have faced thus far. The Mississippi State Bulldogs ran a 3-3-5, and Georgia had its fair share of struggles against them, but Smart says TCU runs a different kind of 3-3-5. Smart said TCU implements different “structures,” “coverages,” “personnel groupings,” and “different techniques” that make the Dawgs’ performance against Mississippi State hard to compare at face value.

Both teams are feeling good stories. The Dawgs can go back to back down 15 draft picks with Stetson Bennett, who grew up a Georgia fan. The Frogs are turning their program around out of nowhere under a new head coach. This is what college football is about. Probability does not equal reality; Smart wasn’t lying.