Saturday’s contest between SMU and TCU will be the final time the Iron Skillet Rivalry comes to Ford Stadium for the foreseeable future.
With TCU deciding to suspend the rivalry after the 2025 meeting, SMU will be left without a rival guaranteed to appear on its schedule each year.
Leadership within SMU’s athletic department says the program is moving on and has begun conversations with other non-conference programs for home-and-home series in the coming years.
And with the move to the ACC, some new conference rivalries could be brewing as well.
Here are five teams that could become SMU’s top rival:
Baylor
They say, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” and while SMU and Baylor have shared TCU as their top rival for years, the two schools have a history of their own.
The rivalry dates back to 1916 and has been fairly even over the last century, with Baylor leading 39-36-7. The Mustangs once dominated before Baylor won the last 13 meetings, most recently in 2016.
Scheduling seems to be the biggest roadblock for non-conference rivals in college football these days, and that won’t be a problem for SMU and Baylor, as the two teams are scheduled to play a home-and-home series in non-conference play in 2025 and 2026.
North Texas
The North Texas rivalry may be too one-sided for the Mustangs, but it’s SMU’s best shot and keeping an annual clash between D-FW teams on its schedule.
The two teams were only conference rivals in the AAC for a single season, but the Safeway Bowl has seen 43 meetings dating back to 1922. SMU leads the series 36-6-1 after winning last year’s game 48-10.
With the chaotic travel schedule in the ACC, it couldn’t hurt the Mustangs to have a game guaranteed to be close to home each year. And both programs have expressed an openness to discussing meetings in the future.
Boston College
Not all college football rivalries have to be based in geography. A new conference provides SMU the chance to find a new rival within the ACC.
Boston College could be a good fit, especially after last season’s Fenway Bowl loss, already sparking a desire for revenge from the Mustangs.
The two teams will meet again at Ford Stadium on Nov. 16 — and a close game could build further tensions that carry into future seasons.
Boston College’s rivalry with Notre Dame isn’t played on a consistent basis either and doesn’t impact ACC standings, so the Eagles could use another rivalry game with higher stakes.
Cal/Stanford
SMU joined the ACC the same year as two other programs, and it’ll play both in its first season in the conference.
With Cal, Stanford and SMU being the three schools furthest from the Atlantic coast — and newbies to the conference — they’ll compete to be the top newcomer this year and prove they belong. A rivalry could spark from those circumstances.
Cal and Stanford have a rivalry of their own from their Pac-12 days, but there’s no reason their games each year against SMU can’t carry a little extra weight as well.
Louisville
Once conference rivals in the AAC are now reunited in the ACC.
Louisville and SMU overlapped for a single season in 2013 before the Cardinals joined the ACC a decade earlier than the Mustangs.
While the two teams will meet in football — and No. 19 Louisville is favored — the rivalry could be greater in basketball.
Louisville won the two contests between the two teams in that 2013-14 season — both of which were competitive battles — before going on to reach the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
Louisville doesn’t have a real rival in the conference, either. After a few down years, Louisville’s a more manageable opponent for Andy Enfield’s team than Duke, UNC and others in a gauntlet ACC slate.
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