The TCU Horned Frogs and SMU Mustangs are indefinitely “pausing” their football series after the 2025 contest, per a report from Brett McMurphy of Action Network.
Texas Christian University, located in Fort Worth, Texas, and Southern Methodist University, located in Dallas, Texas, are situated about 35 miles apart. The two schools first met on the gridiron in 1915 in a contest that is now known as the Battle for the Iron Skillet.
This season, TCU is slated to host SMU at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth on Saturday, Sept. 23. The 2024 contest is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 21 at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in Dallas, before the series returns to Fort Worth in 2025.
In their most recent matchup in 2022 in Dallas, the Horned Frogs defeated the Mustangs 42-34 to extend their advantage in the overall series to 52-42-7.
It is not currently known the exact reason for the “pausing” of the Battle for the Iron Skillet, but it’s likely related to the ongoing conference realignment that has claimed several other prominent non-conference football series.
One possibility is that the expansion of the Big 12 Conference to 16 teams could result in a 10-game conference schedule with only two non-conference games per team per season. If that is the case, the “pausing” of the series makes sense so that the schools can see how their schedules will shake out.
Another possibility is that the Big 12 could eventually extend an offer to SMU to join the conference, which would then make their series a conference game. The Mustangs have also emerged as a possible candidate for the ACC along with Stanford and Cal.
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