In Longhorn Country, Locals Are Going Purple for TCU

Filed under: TCU, Wisconsin, Bowl Games

PASADENA, Calif -- Consider this: At UCLA, which has nearly 400,000 living alumni and a legendary men's basketball program, administrators are desperately trying to raise $100 million to rebuild the campus arena. They're still well short of that target, even after 18 months of effort.

Meanwhile, at Texas Christian University, a small Fort Worth private school that's been a college sports vagabond and hasn't won a national title in football since the '30s, administrators began soliciting donors earlier this year for a $90 million stadium renovation. They raised it all -- in eight months. .

"This is a transformation," said TCU athletic director Chris del Conte, who arrived 15 months ago after stints at Rice and Arizona. "We have a better stronghold on the community than we've had in the past, no question."

That's no small feat, especially in a metropolitan area consumed by the Dallas Cowboys, and in a pigskin-mad state that's long been clad in the burnt-orange of Texas (total enrollment: 50,000) or the maroon of Texas A&M (48,000). But in 2010, Lone Star fans are embracing purple - TCU's color - as the No. 3-ranked Horned Frogs prepare to play No. 5 Wisconsin on Saturday in TCU's first appearance in the Rose Bowl.

Source: http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2010/12/31/in-longhorn-country-locals-are-going-purple-for-tcu/

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