TCU "pausing" series with SMU -- 2025 last game on schedule

[1983 Cotton Bowl]

Surprisingly,

Over on the toad's message board (killer frogs), most are upset by the news and think it is stupid. Many of the ones had posted in the past that the rivalry should stop because it only helped SMU, but now it is a reality, they are gonna miss it!

Maybe we can weasel our way into the Big 12 one day and make em play us again.

This really doesn't surprise me. I don't peruse TCU boards, but I did live in Fort Worth for 7 years and my kids attended a school where it seemed like 50% of the parents were TCU grads. In my experience TCU fans enjoyed the SMU series. It wasn't the same after the SWC ended and we were in different conferences. But it was certainly more exciting than your average non-conference game, has a lot of history, and for the most part TCU won and could claim the iron skillet in recent years. And SMU won just enough (once every several years until 2 of the last 3) to keep it interesting. So what was not to like from a TCU perspective?

As an SMU fan, this was a game I always paid attention to. Just a shame to see it go. But then again, I grew up in PAC-10 country and the conference I watched my whole childhood completely blew up less than 30 days ago. So I think that's just what college football has become, which is too bad.

[PonyTime]

This makes me sad. Always look forward to the game. Hopefully we can keep playing you in basketball

My guess is that's unlikely. Hate to say it.

I hate that I agree. This is 100% about getting another home game at Amon Carter every year. About the best you can hope for would be a two-for-one down the line and I'm not sure SMU would want to do that. Anyway it's a sad day

If it is 100% this, when are they going to back out of the scheduled away games at Stanford and at Duke to add more home games?

[FroggieFever]

If it is 100% this, when are they going to back out of the scheduled away games at Stanford and at Duke to add more home games?

Stanford was 16 yrs ago whn TCU was in the MWC. Duke?

TCU is retooling their OOC, for better or worse.

[Dukie]

If it is 100% this, when are they going to back out of the scheduled away games at Stanford and at Duke to add more home games?

Stanford was 16 yrs ago whn TCU was in the MWC. Duke?

TCU is retooling their OOC, for better or worse.

Duke and TCU have a series announced for 2028-29.

https://fbschedules.com/ncaa/duke/

I assume y’all have one set with Stanford as well, based on the post above.

[Charleston Pony]

I seem to recall SMU scheduling either a 4 year or 6 year home/home series with Duke following the Vanderbilt series of the early 90's only to see that never materialize

[Dukie]

I seem to recall SMU scheduling either a 4 year or 6 year home/home series with Duke following the Vanderbilt series of the early 90's only to see that never materialize

I remember that too; don’t know why it didn’t happen.

[Charleston Pony]

I seem to recall SMU scheduling either a 4 year or 6 year home/home series with Duke following the Vanderbilt series of the early 90's only to see that never materialize

I remember that too; don’t know why it didn’t happen.

It was never going to be a money maker for either program and I expect our drubbing Vanderbilt in Ownby didn't help

[mustangxc]

I hate this, but I (unfortunately) kind of see the TCU perspective also. Even though we have won 2 of the last 3 games, it's been a rather lopsided rivalry in their favor since the early 90s. It is generally a bigger rivalry for us than it is for them and they are truly in a lose-lose situation regarding this game when it comes to optics. It is not radically different than the way we view the UNT game: their super bowl, looks terrible when we lose, were supposed to beat them when we do, etc.

Also, I could be wrong on this, but I would predict TCU has had as much success as they are going to have for the next decade and they will likely plateau or slowly trend down, while all signs point to SMU trending in the right direction.

No matter, I do think the Iron Skillet is good for both teams, fans, and DFW in general and it will be missed.

Sorry, but TCU v SMU is nothing like UNT v SMU. SMU and TCU were historically in the same conference and are traditionally similar institutions that attract similar student profiles. Up until recently, the series was very even and still is fairly even, with SMU having a substantial lead in men's basketball. UNT has never been competitive with SMU on the field or for students. This is really another cowardly move by Sonny Dykes.

[ShantyBoy]

This ^^^ 100%. I friggin hate those NTSU comparisons as well. Our series is nothing at all like the rivalry with the toads. The only people that say that are too young to appreciate that SMU at one time dominated tcu for years, just like they have had the upper hand recently. That has never been the case with unt. And the argument that they are looking to boost their out of conference is baloney too. This is 100% about wanting to avoid SMU on the field and continuing to do what they can to suppress any resurgence to their east.

[Charleston Pony]

No question that SMU and TCU are basically "sister schools" as they say and the series has actually been very competitive through the years. TCU leads primarily because SMU all but quit competing for several years after the death penalty but these next couple of games will demonstrate just how competitive this game is. There's little doubt in my mind that Sonny wants to "pause" if not eliminate this rivalry because of the bad blood he left behind. People need to remember that when he got booted from Cal, Sonny worked a year for Patterson at TCU before SMU hired him. These things happen and emotions run high so hopefully by the time 2025 rolls around attitudes will change. Who knows, if both programs continue to rise, this game might be played in Jerry World on national TV and be profitable for both schools. That's the bottom line in all of this.

[GHammond]

Saw this on Insta yesterday...."Never ask a man his salary, a woman her age, or a tcu alum their ACT score"

[PonyTime]

If it is 100% this, when are they going to back out of the scheduled away games at Stanford and at Duke to add more home games?

Stanford was 16 yrs ago whn TCU was in the MWC. Duke?

TCU is retooling their OOC, for better or worse.

I am referencing TCU's future OOC opponents that are not SMU, which include:

2023
Colorado
Nicholls

2024
Stanford

2025
Abeline Christian
North Carolina

2026
North Carolina

2027
Stanford

2028
Duke

2029
Duke

2030
Purdue

One could argue that SMU could be a tougher opponent than every single one of these with the exception of UNC.

I would also guess that SMU would outdraw every one of these opponents at Amon Carter with possible exception of Colorado this year due to the Prime factor)

[Mustangs_Maroons]

This is not surprising to me. The Toads are afraid of competing with us, even they will admit it. They see it as a nail in their coffin to their bowl aspirations if they lose to us, and probably don't feel they gain much when they win. That has probably been true when we were not very good, and right now it's all about watering down your OOC schedule with weak schools. Tradition of rivalries be damned. This is probably our best football team in a long time, and they know it, and we are only trending up. NIL is a great equalizer when we can compete for talent against schools that don't traditionally recruit at the top levels consistently, and yes, that includes the toads.

What really gets me is the hypocrisy of their fans who boast that they are so much better, but the reality is that over the last three or four years it has been very even, and it will continue to be the case until the series is cancelled (I laugh at their use of the word "paused") in 2025. Their fans also love to state that this is our Super Bowl, while the reality is that it's the toads that usually take two weeks to prepare before they face us. So whose Super Bowl is it? They also make fun about our program and facilities, but they were the ones that took our coach. The irony of it all...

Frankly, the toads and the pervs in Baylor are afraid of having SMU compete on equal footing, and they have blackballed us into the B12, and they will continue to do anything and everything they can to hurt our chances. But, the reality is, we don't need them. We just need to win our conference and show well, and we will land in a good spot. When that happens and we have our own comparable conference to compete in, I'll be glad to never have to talk about that sh**ty program and school every again. Good riddance.

Yeah that or maybe we just wanted the .revenue a 7th home game.brings. enjoy your ascribing nefarious purposes to a wholly financial decision tho

Do you know what the word nefarious means? Nefarious relates to the actions of tcu, baylor and tech to blackball smu into the B12 because they don't want us to compete on equal footing. Nefarious is cancelling a 100+ year old rivalry and using the bs excuse it's financial-related. do you really believe that garbage? Good luck with all the financial revenue from playing Nicholls this year and Tarleton last year. Nefarious is needing two weeks to prepare for us each year because can't stand the idea of SMU winning and then calling it our SB.

Like I said, good riddance, we'll be fine.

[FroggieFever]

If it is 100% this, when are they going to back out of the scheduled away games at Stanford and at Duke to add more home games?

Stanford was 16 yrs ago whn TCU was in the MWC. Duke?

TCU is retooling their OOC, for better or worse.

I am referencing TCU's future OOC opponents that are not SMU, which include:

2023
Colorado
Nicholls

2024
Stanford

2025
Abeline Christian
North Carolina

2026
North Carolina

2027
Stanford

2028
Duke

2029
Duke

2030
Purdue

One could argue that SMU could be a tougher opponent than every single one of these with the exception of UNC.

I would also guess that SMU would outdraw every one of these opponents at Amon Carter with possible exception of Colorado this year due to the Prime factor)

Gotcha. I would look for that to change, soon, as well. (And to your point, Jeremiah/Sonny offered a 3 home - 1 away, albeit unacceptable by all standards.)

[West Coast Johnny]

It has been quite some time since I posted on this board but I wanted to put my 2 cents in on this topic. Generally, I would only be OK with TCU pausing the skillet game if they replaced the game with something better on the schedule. If (for example), they committed to scheduling home and homes with top tier power five opponents, in lieu of the skillet game, I would be OK with it. However, this is not what TCU has planned. It appears that they will schedule one off, home only games against sun-belt and bottom tier AAC / MWC teams. This decreases the quality of our schedule. This is compounded by the fact that we wont have OU and Texas any more so our schedule is taking a step back. It means more wins and more money and potentially play off appearances... But it hurts the quality of the actual football being played.

I want to emphasize that it should be an occassional 'pause' and that the skillet game should be played frequently, but if we have a compelling game on offer, we should have the flexibility to 'pause' the skillet.