Walkoff in Fort Worth!
TCU 31, Kansas 28
I almost never seek out luxury experiences when it comes to Road to CFB. The whole goal of the tour is to share familiar experiences that the average fan will experience over the course of their visit to each school.
That said– when luxury club seats are offered to you, you take them.
TCU completed a $100 million renovation of Amon G. Carter Stadium just in time for the 2020 football season. The Legends Club (pictured above) was part of that renovation and is seeing its first full use this year. It’s definitely designed for the upper crust of society.
To get to the Legends Club, patrons take an entirely different entrance, elevator, everything; God forbid we dabble with the peons. The elevator is decorated with a sleek TCU logo, which takes you up three stories to the lobby.
The lounge itself offers dozens of TVs like a high-end sports bar with relevant games on (in this instance, Iowa State at Oklahoma). It’s an open two-story lounge, but the upper level access is even higher class for the reserved suite boxes.
Food and soda is complementary to Legends Club fans. A carving station with brisket, turkey, burnt ends, and sausage was the main course with buffet stations of macaroni and salad offered, among other things. They also had a Jambalaya station, wing bar, and nacho bar. If I told you I showed restraint with so much available food, I’d be lying.
Smartly, the alcohol isn’t complementary: it’s $8 for a domestic beer, $9 for a glass of wine, and $11 for spirits. That’s typical stadium pricing, but it’s barely even a thought to most of the fans in the Legends Club. After all, these are TCU alumni and donors we’re talking about.
If you’re interested in what TCU’s game day is like, you can find my writeup from earlier in the season here.
The Game
The Horned Frogs hosted the Kansas Jayhawks for their final home game of the 2021 season. Kansas was hot off a major upset of Texas in Austin and the majority of, well, everybody assumed TCU would walk all over them. Not the case.
Kansas came out swinging, leading 14-7 at half and tying the game at 28 with less than five minutes left. TCU then went on a drive that drained the rest of the clock and kicked the game-winning field goal with just seconds left.
Postgame fireworks were a must on a downright gorgeous north Texas night.
I can now say that I’ve experienced a game day from every aspect of TCU. I won’t get comfortable with the suite life, but I can’t say I’d be able to pass this one up if offered again.
And with that, the 2021 Road to CFB regular season comes to a close. Annually I take off Week 13 to watch the Ohio State-Michigan game as well as visit family in Ohio for Thanksgiving.
However, for the first time along the tour, I’ll be heading to the postseason. Keep an eye out for the Big 12 Championship game, bowl games, and the FCS National Championship.