SMU’s move to the ACC has raised the stakes for four Texas football rivalries rooted in trophies, recruiting battles and DFW bragging rights.
SMU football rivals still matter, even as the Mustangs settle into a very different world in the ACC.
The program’s conference journey has taken it from the old Southwest Conference to the WAC, Conference USA, the American Athletic Conference and now back into the power-conference spotlight.
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But for a school with deep Texas roots, the games that still stir up the most emotion are the ones closest to home.
SMU on SI wrote that it starts with TCU.
The Horned Frogs remain SMU’s defining football rival, and the Iron Skillet is still the trophy most Mustang fans want back in Dallas.
The schools sit roughly 40 miles apart, which makes the series feel less like a normal nonconference matchup and more like a neighborhood fight over status, pride and recruiting visibility in the Metroplex.
TCU has had the upper hand recently, winning three of the last four meetings, including last season’s game. That only adds more heat to a rivalry SMU fans badly want to flip.
Houston is another matchup that carries real weight. For years, SMU and Houston fought over many of the same recruits, especially in Dallas, Houston and East Texas.
The rivalry found new life during their time together in the AAC, when both programs were chasing league titles and bigger bowl opportunities.
Now that SMU is in the ACC and Houston is in the Big 12, the matchup has a different kind of juice. The Cougars have won three straight in the series, which gives the Mustangs another score to settle whenever the rivalry returns.
Rice gives SMU a different kind of historical rival. The Mayor’s Cup doesn’t have the same edge as the Iron Skillet, but it connects two private schools from Texas’ biggest cities with Southwest Conference history going all the way back to 1915.
The teams played regularly for decades before the series slowed down. SMU won the most recent meeting in 2023, a 36-31 game that reminded everyone that history still has a pulse.
Then there’s North Texas, the local irritation that turned into something bigger.
The Safeway Bowl has always had a little bite because Denton and Dallas are so close. SMU controlled much of the series for years, but UNT made it more competitive during the modern era. The Mustangs have won five straight, though the teams haven’t played since 2023.
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SMU’s ACC move creates opportunity, but it also creates distance.
The Mustangs may be looking nationally now, but their Texas rivalries are still part of what gives the program its identity.
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