Arkansas vs. SMU
Arkansas and SMU first met in 1920 and have played 73 times; Arkansas leads the series 37–31–5. Over the last 10 meetings it’s Arkansas 6–4, and Arkansas has won the last 2. Share
- Arkansas wins
- 37
- SMU wins
- 31
- Ties
- 5
- First meeting
- 1920
- Longest streak
- 8 SMU
- Current streak
- 2 Arkansas
- Last 10 meetings
- Arkansas 6–4
- Most recent
- 1999
The series at a glance
| ’0 | ’1 | ’2 | ’3 | ’4 | ’5 | ’6 | ’7 | ’8 | ’9 | W–L | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1920s | 3–1–2 | ||||||||||
| 1930s | 4–5 | ||||||||||
| 1940s | 2–8 | ||||||||||
| 1950s | 4–6 | ||||||||||
| 1960s | 9–1 | ||||||||||
| 1970s | 6–2–2 | ||||||||||
| 1980s | 3–4–1 | ||||||||||
| 1990s | 6–4 |
- Both ranked
- 3 meetings: Arkansas 0, SMU 2; 1 both in the top 10
- Average margin
- 13.4 points; 28 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
- At Arkansas
- 20–12–1 Arkansas’s record at home
- At SMU
- 17–14–4 SMU’s record at home
- Neutral sites
- 3–2 Arkansas first
- Shutouts
- 16
Every meeting on file, as played. Ranks are the AP poll’s going in.
Games that tell the story
- Arkansas’s biggest win1964: Arkansas 44, SMU 0by 44 points
- SMU’s biggest win1951: SMU 47, Arkansas 7by 40 points
- Upset1976: SMU 35, Arkansas 31SMU had a 19% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
- Upset1996: SMU 23, Arkansas 10SMU had a 22% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
- Upset1963: SMU 14, Arkansas 7SMU had a 30% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
- Ranked showdown1982: Arkansas 17, SMU 17 (tie)No. 9 Arkansas at No. 2 SMU
- Ranked showdown1981: SMU 32, Arkansas 18No. 6 SMU at No. 16 Arkansas
- Ranked showdown1954: SMU 21, Arkansas 14No. 19 SMU at No. 4 Arkansas
Coach against coach
| Years | Arkansas | Series | SMU |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1922–1925 | Francis Schmidt | 1–1–2 | Ray Morrison |
| 1931–1934 | Fred Thomsen | 1–3 | Ray Morrison |
| 1935–1941 | Fred Thomsen | 3–4 | Madison Bell |
| 1946–1949 | John Barnhill | 1–3 | Madison Bell |
| 1950–1952 | Otis Douglas | 0–3 | H.N. Russell |
| 1958–1961 | Frank Broyles | 4–0 | Bill Meek |
| 1962–1972 | Frank Broyles | 9–2 | Hayden Fry |
| 1973–1975 | Frank Broyles | 1–0–2 | Dave Smith |
| 1977–1981 | Lou Holtz | 3–2 | Ron Meyer |
| 1984–1986 | Ken Hatfield | 2–1 | Bobby Collins |
| 1993–1996 | Danny Ford | 2–2 | Tom Rossley |
Head-coach pairings with three or more meetings on file, the series read from Arkansas’s side (Schmidt 1–1–2 against Morrison). A season split between coaches goes to the one credited with the game.
Both programs through the years
Our Elo rating at the end of each season, a measure of how strong a team was, not a forecast; 1500 is an average FBS team.
From the newspapers
1920 · Pine Bluff daily graphic, Oct 24, 1920
1933 · The Bismarck tribune. (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, North Dakota, Oct 30, 1933
1934 · The Daily Alaska empire, Nov 19, 1934
1935 · Imperial Valley press, Nov 18, 1935
1940 · Evening star, Nov 18, 1940
Public-domain newspapers from the Library of Congress’s Chronicling America, found through the American Stories dataset (Dell and Harvard, CC BY 4.0). The earliest meetings with a story on file; each game’s page has the full text.
Every game
| Sep 4, 1999 | 18Arkansas 26, SMU 0 | at SMU | ||
| Sep 19, 1998 | Arkansas 44, SMU 17 | at Arkansas | ||
| Sep 13, 1997 | SMU 31, Arkansas 9 | Neutral site | ||
| Sep 7, 1996 | SMU 23, Arkansas 10 | at Arkansas | ||
| Sep 2, 1995 | SMU 17, Arkansas 14 | at SMU | ||
| Sep 3, 1994 | Arkansas 34, SMU 14 | at Arkansas | ||
| Sep 4, 1993 | Arkansas 10, SMU 6 | Neutral site | ||
| Nov 21, 1992 | SMU 24, Arkansas 19 | at Arkansas | ||
| Sep 7, 1991 | Arkansas 17, SMU 6 | at Arkansas | ||
| Nov 24, 1990 | Arkansas 42, SMU 29 | at SMU | ||
| Dec 2, 1989 | 9Arkansas 38, SMU 24 | at Arkansas | ||
| Nov 22, 1986 | 11Arkansas 41, SMU 0 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 23, 1985 | 18Arkansas 15, SMU 9 | at Arkansas | ||
| Nov 24, 1984 | 11SMU 31, Arkansas 28 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 19, 1983 | 6SMU 17, Arkansas 0 | at Arkansas | ||
| Nov 20, 1982 | 2SMU 17, 9Arkansas 17 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 21, 1981 | 6SMU 32, 16Arkansas 18 | at Arkansas | ||
| Nov 23, 1980 | SMU 31, Arkansas 7 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 24, 1979 | 7Arkansas 31, SMU 7 | at Arkansas | ||
| Nov 25, 1978 | 11Arkansas 27, SMU 14 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 19, 1977 | 8Arkansas 47, SMU 7 | at Arkansas | ||
| Nov 20, 1976 | SMU 35, Arkansas 31 | Neutral site | ||
| Nov 15, 1975 | Arkansas 35, SMU 7 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 16, 1974 | SMU 24, Arkansas 24 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 17, 1973 | SMU 7, Arkansas 7 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 18, 1972 | SMU 22, Arkansas 7 | at Arkansas | ||
| Nov 13, 1971 | 17Arkansas 18, SMU 13 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 14, 1970 | 7Arkansas 36, SMU 3 | at Arkansas | ||
| Nov 15, 1969 | 4Arkansas 28, SMU 15 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 16, 1968 | 10Arkansas 35, SMU 29 | at Arkansas | ||
| Nov 18, 1967 | Arkansas 35, SMU 17 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 12, 1966 | 6Arkansas 22, SMU 0 | at Arkansas | ||
| Nov 13, 1965 | 2Arkansas 24, SMU 3 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 14, 1964 | 3Arkansas 44, SMU 0 | at Arkansas | ||
| Nov 16, 1963 | SMU 14, Arkansas 7 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 17, 1962 | 7Arkansas 9, SMU 7 | at Arkansas | ||
| Nov 18, 1961 | Arkansas 21, SMU 7 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 12, 1960 | 9Arkansas 26, SMU 3 | at Arkansas | ||
| Nov 14, 1959 | 20Arkansas 17, SMU 14 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 15, 1958 | Arkansas 13, 15SMU 6 | at Arkansas | ||
| Nov 16, 1957 | SMU 27, Arkansas 22 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 17, 1956 | Arkansas 27, SMU 13 | at Arkansas | ||
| Nov 12, 1955 | Arkansas 6, SMU 0 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 13, 1954 | 19SMU 21, 4Arkansas 14 | at Arkansas | ||
| Nov 14, 1953 | SMU 13, Arkansas 7 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 15, 1952 | SMU 27, Arkansas 17 | at Arkansas | ||
| Nov 17, 1951 | SMU 47, Arkansas 7 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 18, 1950 | 14SMU 14, Arkansas 7 | at Arkansas | ||
| Nov 12, 1949 | 12SMU 34, Arkansas 6 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 13, 1948 | 7SMU 14, Arkansas 12 | at Arkansas | ||
| Nov 15, 1947 | 4SMU 14, Arkansas 6 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 16, 1946 | 17Arkansas 13, SMU 0 | at Arkansas | ||
| Nov 17, 1945 | SMU 21, Arkansas 0 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 18, 1944 | SMU 20, Arkansas 12 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 13, 1943 | Arkansas 14, SMU 12 | Neutral site | ||
| Nov 14, 1942 | SMU 14, Arkansas 6 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 15, 1941 | SMU 14, Arkansas 7 | at Arkansas | ||
| Nov 16, 1940 | 20SMU 28, Arkansas 0 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 17, 1939 | Arkansas 14, 17SMU 0 | at Arkansas | ||
| Nov 12, 1938 | SMU 19, Arkansas 6 | at SMU | ||
| Oct 23, 1937 | Arkansas 13, SMU 0 | Neutral site | ||
| Nov 14, 1936 | Arkansas 17, 19SMU 0 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 16, 1935 | SMU 17, Arkansas 6 | at Arkansas | ||
| Nov 17, 1934 | SMU 10, Arkansas 6 | at SMU | ||
| Oct 28, 1933 | Arkansas 3, SMU 0 | at Arkansas | ||
| Nov 12, 1932 | SMU 13, Arkansas 7 | at SMU | ||
| Oct 10, 1931 | SMU 42, Arkansas 6 | at Arkansas | ||
| Nov 7, 1925 | SMU 0, Arkansas 0 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 8, 1924 | Arkansas 14, SMU 14 | at Arkansas | ||
| Nov 10, 1923 | SMU 13, Arkansas 6 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 18, 1922 | Arkansas 9, SMU 0 | at Arkansas | ||
| Oct 29, 1921 | Arkansas 14, SMU 0 | at Arkansas | ||
| Oct 22, 1920 | Arkansas 6, SMU 0 | at SMU |
Every game is listed as played on the field.