TCU coach Sonny Dykes grew up around Southwest Conference football as the son of a coach. As a head coach himself, he has won on both sides in the rivalry between the Horned Frogs and SMU that, at least for now, is about to end after 104 games played over 110 years.
Arkansas-born Rhett Lashlee, who took over at SMU after across the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex at the end of the 2021 season, fondly remembers as a kid when the Razorbacks were in the Southwest Conference with eight teams from Texas.
In the 30 years since the SWC鈥檚 final season, no teams from that league have met more as nonconference opponents than TCU (2-0) and SMU (2-1), who play Saturday. Since going separate ways after five years together in the WAC, this will be the 23rd 鈥淏attle for the Iron Skillet鈥� in a span when the only years not meeting were 2006 and the coronavirus-impacted 2020 season.
鈥淭hey鈥檝e chosen not to play anymore,鈥� Lashlee said. 鈥淲e鈥檒l see what the future holds. But we鈥檙e playing this Saturday.鈥�
Power schedules
Things changed when SMU joined the Atlantic Coast Conference last year to become part of a major conference for the first time since the end of the SWC. Neither SMU nor TCU was among the four Texas schools that joined with the Big Eight Conference teams to form the Big 12, but the Frogs went to the league in 2012.
The Big 12 plays a nine-game conference schedule, and TCU already has nonconference games scheduled against other Power Four teams each season through at least 2030. So does SMU.
鈥淲e鈥檙e scheduled out, because that鈥檚 what you do,鈥� Dykes said. 鈥淭he situation changed, and then it didn鈥檛 make a lot of sense to play these games. ... It鈥檚 a pretty simple equation, and a pretty simple solution.鈥�
TCU and Baylor, which won on Sept. 6 in their first meeting of those former SWC rivals since 2016, are the only FBS teams playing 11 Power Four opponents this year. That is because their games against the Mustangs were scheduled before SMU's move from the American Athletic Conference to the ACC. Baylor will host them next year, with no more meetings scheduled after that.
Script flipped a bit
SMU has won three of the past five games against the Frogs, after losing 17 of 19 before that. When the Mustangs won in 2019 and 2021 with Dykes on their side, it was the first time since 1992-93 鈥� before their NCAA death penalty 鈥� with back-to-back wins in the series. TCU won in 2022 and 2023 after , but at home last year, when after two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties at the start of the second half.
Pony Express
Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson, who with Craig James made up the from 1979-82, wasn't aware until recently that this was the last scheduled meeting.
鈥淭hey said they wanted more home games, but they didn't want another game they had a really good chance of losing is what the deal was,鈥� James explained to Dickerson.
鈥淲hen you can beat up a team, you want to play them all the time,鈥� Dickerson responded.
Dickerson said the hardest hit he ever took was as a freshman from a blitzing TCU defensive back. Dickerson went to the sideline and then didn't remember walking to the locker room. The Mustangs won that game, and were 4-0 with the 鈥淧ony Express鈥� during a string of 15 consecutive wins in the series.
鈥淎ll I know is they鈥檙e right down the street, they had that ugly mascot, that ugly frog, and I used to love beating up on them,鈥� Dickerson said. 鈥淲e had some tough games.鈥�
Where are they now?
Arkansas left for the Southeastern Conference in 1992, and the eight Texas schools that played the final SWC season in 1995 are now spread out among four different leagues.
Baylor and Texas Tech are still in what is now a 16-team Big 12. Texas A&M departed for the SEC in 2012 and Texas joined the Aggies there last year after they didn't play during those 12 seasons when not in the same league. Houston played in multiple leagues before joining the Big 12 in 2023. Only Rice in the American Conference isn鈥檛 among the Power Four.
After SMU-Baylor next year, Texas Tech and Arkansas are scheduled to play three times, a 2030 game in Las Vegas before campus games in 2031 and 2034.
鈥淚t's just the ebb and flow of the way this stuff works in college football, because there鈥檚 a lot of uncertainty and that鈥檚 just really kind of how it is,鈥� Dykes said. 鈥淚f we're in the same conference as SMU, we'd play every year, and there was a long time that they were.鈥�
Meaningful wins
Lashlee was on Dykes' staff at SMU for the win over TCU in 2019, part of the Mustangs' first 10-win season in 35 years.
The Frogs won in 2022 during an undefeated regular season in Dykes' debut that ended in the national championship game.
The Mustangs won last year before a regular-season title in their ACC debut and a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff.
鈥淚t's kind of an interesting spot as we're both leaving nonconference and going into conference,鈥� Lashlee said. 鈥淚n 鈥�19, it springboarded us to a 10-win season. ... Last year obviously it really helped springboard us again. So it can be a swing game.鈥�
