BREAKING: TCU football pausing series with SMU after 2025 season

Multiple reports Wednesday morning indicate that TCU football will be indefinitely pausing its home-and-home nonconference series against SMU after the 2025 season. The Fort Worth-Dallas rivalry matchup, better known as the Battle for the Iron Skillet, has been played since 1915 and will see its 102nd installation during the 2023 season, when the Mustangs travel to Amon G. Carter Stadium to face the Horned Frogs. TCU football holds a 52-42-7 overall record against SMU since the game’s inception over a century ago.

While the Mustangs have taken two of the last three Iron Skillet matchups, TCU holds a 18-4 advantage over SMU since 1999. Head coach Sonny Dykes has won three consecutive Iron Skillet games, with two coming at SMU and the most recent victory coming at TCU in 2022. The reported decision to pause the series comes as conference realignment continues to make waves around college football, with four teams including Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State and Utah officially leaving the Pac-12 for the Big 12 while Oregon and Washington are departing the Pac-12 for the Big Ten. Although SMU currently resides in the American Athletic Conference, rumors and reports continue to speculate that the Mustangs could be on the move, with their destination residing in either a renewed Pac-12 or even the ACC.

TCU will conclude its home-and-home series against Colorado in 2023. The Horned Frogs will open two home-and-home nonconference sets against Stanford and North Carolina over the next two seasons, with TCU scheduled to face the Cardinal on the road in 2024 before traveling to take on the Tar Heels in 2025. TCU will host North Carolina in 2026 and Stanford in 2027 before playing a home-and-home set against Duke over 2028 and 2029. The Horned Frogs begin a new decade in 2030 with a home game against Purdue.