BREAKING: TCU, SMU To Pause Rivalry Series

The Horned Frogs, Mustangs will pause their annual cross-Metro rivalry after the 2025 season.

These days, nothing is permanent in college football. Conferences are on the verge of collapse, and conference realignment has driven many historic rivalries extinct. But TCU's century-old rivalry with cross-Metroplex SMU remained untouched since the two don't currently share a league.

But, after the 2025 season, the TCU-SMU rivalry will pause, per a report from Action Network's Brett McMurphy. No term was given, but McMurphy states the pause is "indefinite."

The Horned Frogs lead the all-time series with the Mustangs 52-42-7. The Battle For The Iron Skillet was first played in 1915, and the 2023 Week 4 showdown will be the 102nd meeting between the two teams. The two teams shared a league rivalry from 1923 all the way up through 2000 in both the Southwest Conference and the Western Athletic Conference. TCU departed the WAC for Conference USA in 2001, but the rivalry remained for another quarter century.

The Battle for Iron Skillet will take a pause after the 2025 season.  / © Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

TCU hosts SMU this season, then visits Dallas for the 2024 edition. No 2025 game is currently listed on college football scheduling sites, but McMurphy confirmed the '25 edition will be played.

Although the Horned Frogs are 12-3 against the Mustangs dating back to 2007, SMU has won two of the last three editions. TCU won narrowly last year, winning 42-34 at Gerald J. Ford Stadium.

SMU has been rumored to be involved with several conferences, including the ACC and Pac-12 (or PAC, depending on if the league holds together). They currently reside in the American Athletic Conference, which added six new members and lost four in this round of realignment.

TCU hosts SMU this season on Sept. 23, with kick time and TV broadcast yet to be announced.

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