sentences:  The Horned Frogs began to emerge as a National Championship contender after their convincing 41–20 win over then #7-ranked Kansas State.Despite their struggles against last-place Kansas and Oklahoma and their loss to Baylor, going into the final week of the regular season, TCU was ranked #3 in the newly formed College Football Playoff poll, which coincided with the new College Football Playoff system, whose format selects the Top 4 teams in the rankings at the end of the season to participate in a four-team playoff system to decide a National Champion.TCU soundly defeated Iowa State in their final regular season game to finish the 2014 season with an 11–1 record.