The TCU Horned Frogs had to wait 17 years to gain entrance into the Big 12 conference. Now that they have arrived there will be no waiting to know the Frogs' 2012 football foes.

The schedule, with dates and times to be determined, is set. And, boy, what a difference.

Gone are the days of traveling west in the Mountain West Conference, and the days of heading to the chilly northeast will never be in the Big East Conference.

TCU will play three non-conference games in 2012 -- two at home against Grambling State and Virginia, with the annual rivalry against SMU returning to the east side of the Metroplex. Oklahoma, originally on the non-conference slate as part of series with the Sooners last played in Norman in 2005, is now a conference game.

The rest of the Frogs' conference schedule is: Texas, Texas Tech, Baylor, Oklahoma State, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State and Missouri.

Here's a comparison of TCU's 2011 schedule in the MWC, its would-be 2012 schedule in the Big East and its newest schedule in the Big 12 (conference games denoted with an asterisk):

2011 MWC schedule
vs. Baylor
at Air Force*
vs. Louisiana-Monroe
vs. Portland State
vs. SMU
at San Diego State*
vs. New Mexico*
vs. BYU (at Cowboys Stadium)
at Wyoming*
at Boise State*
vs. Colorado State*
vs. UNLV*

2012 Big East schedule
vs. Grambling State
vs. Virginia
vs. Oklahoma
at SMU
Cincinnati*
Connecticut*
Louisville*
Pittsburgh*
Rutgers*
South Florida*
Syracuse*
West Virginia*

2012 Big 12 schedule
vs. Grambling State
vs. Virginia
at SMU
Baylor*
Iowa State*
Kansas*
Kansas State*
Missouri*
Oklahoma*
Oklahoma State*
Texas*
Texas Tech*