Cincinnati vs. SMU

Cincinnati and SMU first met in 2013 and have played 7 times; Cincinnati leads the series 6–⁠1. Over the last 7 meetings it’s Cincinnati 6–⁠1, and Cincinnati has won the last 4.

Cincinnati wins
6
SMU wins
1
Ties
0
First meeting
2013
Longest streak
4 Cincinnati
Current streak
4 Cincinnati
Last 10 meetings
Cincinnati 6–⁠1
Most recent
2022

The series at a glance

Every meeting by decade, colored by the winner
’0’1’2’3’4’5’6’7’8’9W–L
2010s3–⁠1
2020s3–⁠0
Both ranked
1 meeting: Cincinnati 1, SMU 0
Average margin
16.4 points; 4 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
At Cincinnati
2–⁠1 Cincinnati’s record at home
At SMU
0–⁠4 SMU’s record at home

Every meeting on file, as played. Ranks are the AP poll’s going in.

Games that tell the story

  1. Cincinnati’s biggest win2014: Cincinnati 41, SMU 3by 38 points
  2. SMU’s biggest win2017: SMU 31, Cincinnati 28by 3 points
  3. Ranked showdown2020: Cincinnati 42, SMU 13No. 9 Cincinnati at No. 16 SMU

Coach against coach

YearsCincinnatiSeriesSMU
2018–⁠2021Luke Fickell3–⁠0Sonny Dykes

Head-coach pairings with three or more meetings on file, the series read from Cincinnati’s side (Fickell 3–⁠0 against Dykes). A season split between coaches goes to the one credited with the game.

Both programs through the years

End-of-season Elo ratings of Cincinnati and SMU, 2013 on130015001700201520202025

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.

Stars of the series

Biggest days

Desmond Ridder Cincinnati8 carries, 179 yards, 3 TD2020 Rushing

Biggest days: the week’s best individual games by our big-days rule, from box scores (2004 on).

Every game

Oct 22, 202221Cincinnati 29, SMU 27at SMU
Nov 20, 20213Cincinnati 48, SMU 14at Cincinnati
Oct 24, 20209Cincinnati 42, 16SMU 13at SMU
Oct 27, 2018Cincinnati 26, SMU 20at SMU
Oct 21, 2017SMU 31, Cincinnati 28at Cincinnati
Oct 18, 2014Cincinnati 41, SMU 3at SMU
Nov 9, 2013Cincinnati 28, SMU 25at Cincinnati

Every game is listed as played on the field.