The Battle for the Iron Skillet
SMU vs. TCU
103 of their 104 meetings are on file, the first in 1915; officially, TCU leads 54–42–7; as played, 54–42–7 in the games on file. Over the last 10 meetings it’s TCU 7–3. The winner takes home the Iron Skillet. TCU holds it. The NCAA vacated SMU’s win (1998); it doesn’t count officially. This page counts every game as it was played. The two counts match only by coincidence: the official one covers the meeting our file lacks and leaves out the NCAA’s and conferences’ rulings. Share
- Official series
- TCU leads 54–42–7
- SMU wins on file
- 42
- TCU wins on file
- 54
- Ties
- 7
- Earliest on file
- 1915
- Longest streak
- 15 SMU
- Current streak
- 1 TCU
- Last 10 meetings
- TCU 7–3
- Most recent
- 2025
The series at a glance
| ’0 | ’1 | ’2 | ’3 | ’4 | ’5 | ’6 | ’7 | ’8 | ’9 | W–L | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1910s | 0–3 | ||||||||||
| 1920s | 4–2–2 | ||||||||||
| 1930s | 3–5–2 | ||||||||||
| 1940s | 5–3–2 | ||||||||||
| 1950s | 2–8 | ||||||||||
| 1960s | 4–5–1 | ||||||||||
| 1970s | 8–2 | ||||||||||
| 1980s | 7–1 | ||||||||||
| 1990s | 4–6 | ||||||||||
| 2000s | 1–8 | ||||||||||
| 2010s | 2–8 | ||||||||||
| 2020s | 2–3 |
- Average margin
- 14.4 points; 36 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
- At SMU
- 22–27–2 SMU’s record at home
- At TCU
- 27–19–5 TCU’s record at home
- Neutral sites
- 1–0 SMU first
- Shutouts
- 19
Every meeting on file, as played. Ranks are the AP poll’s going in.
Iron Skillet
- Played for since
- —
- Held by
- TCU
Who holds it comes from the games on file: the winner of the latest regular-season meeting (bowl rematches aren’t played for it); a tie leaves it with the holder (the usual rule; the article doesn’t say). From Wikipedia’s list of rivalry games and the rivalry’s article (CC BY-SA). More on the Iron Skillet.
Games that tell the story
- SMU’s biggest win1923: SMU 40, TCU 0by 40 points
- TCU’s biggest win2014: TCU 56, SMU 0by 56 points
- Upset2011: SMU 40, TCU 33SMU had a 17% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
- Upset1950: TCU 27, SMU 13TCU had a 26% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
- Upset1997: TCU 21, SMU 18TCU had a 27% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
Coach against coach
| Years | SMU | Series | TCU |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1923–1928 | Ray Morrison | 4–1 | Madison Bell |
| 1929–1933 | Ray Morrison | 0–3–2 | Francis Schmidt |
| 1935–1949 | Madison Bell | 5–4–3 | Dutch Meyer |
| 1942–1944 | James Stewart | 2–1 | Dutch Meyer |
| 1950–1952 | H.N. Russell | 0–3 | Dutch Meyer |
| 1953–1956 | Chalmer Woodward | 1–3 | Abe Martin |
| 1957–1961 | Bill Meek | 1–3–1 | Abe Martin |
| 1962–1966 | Hayden Fry | 1–4 | Abe Martin |
| 1967–1970 | Hayden Fry | 3–1 | Fred Taylor |
| 1977–1981 | Ron Meyer | 5–0 | F. Dry |
| 1983–1986 | Bobby Collins | 4–0 | Jim Wacker |
| 1992–1996 | Tom Rossley | 3–2 | Pat Sullivan |
| 1998–2000 | Mike Cavan | 1–2 | Dennis Franchione |
| 2002–2007 | Phil Bennett | 1–4 | Gary Patterson |
| 2008–2013 | June Jones | 1–5 | Gary Patterson |
| 2015–2017 | Chad Morris | 0–3 | Gary Patterson |
| 2018–2021 | Sonny Dykes | 2–1 | Gary Patterson |
| 2022–2025 | Rhett Lashlee | 1–3 | Sonny Dykes |
Head-coach pairings with three or more meetings on file, the series read from SMU’s side (Morrison 4–1 against Bell). 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.
Stars of the series
Biggest days
| Trevone Boykin TCU | 21 of 30, 454 yards, 5 TD, 1 INT | 2015 Passing | |
| Josh Hoover TCU | 22 of 40, 379 yards, 5 TD, 1 INT | 2025 Passing | |
| Eric McAlister TCU | 8 catches, 254 yards, 3 TD | 2025 Receiving | |
| Jack Bech TCU | 8 catches, 166 yards, 2 TD | 2024 Receiving | |
| Nelson Paul SMU | 8 tackles, 3 sacks, 3 for loss | 2022 Defense |
Biggest days: the week’s best individual games by our big-days rule, from box scores (2004 on).
From the newspapers
1930 · Evening star, Nov 30, 1930
1932 · The Daily Alaska empire, Alaska, Nov 28, 1932
1933 · The Daily Alaska empire, Alaska, Dec 4, 1933
1937 · The Waterbury Democrat, Connecticut, Nov 29, 1937
1938 · The Daily Alaska empire, Alaska, Nov 28, 1938
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.
On television
| 2025 | ESPN2 | 0.7 million viewers |
Viewers: Nielsen, as compiled by nschultz7’s ratings tracker.
Photos
Photo: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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From the rivalry’s and its games’ categories on Wikimedia Commons (free licenses only, each credited).
Every game
| Sep 20, 2025 | TCU 35, SMU 24 | at TCU | ||
| Sep 21, 2024 | SMU 66, TCU 42 | at SMU | ||
| Sep 23, 2023 | TCU 34, SMU 17 | at TCU | ||
| Sep 24, 2022 | TCU 42, SMU 34 | at SMU | ||
| Sep 25, 2021 | SMU 42, TCU 34 | at TCU | ||
| Sep 21, 2019 | SMU 41, 25TCU 38 | at TCU | ||
| Sep 7, 2018 | 16TCU 42, SMU 12 | at SMU | ||
| Sep 16, 2017 | 20TCU 56, SMU 36 | at TCU | ||
| Sep 23, 2016 | TCU 33, SMU 3 | at SMU | ||
| Sep 19, 2015 | 3TCU 56, SMU 37 | at TCU | ||
| Sep 27, 2014 | TCU 56, SMU 0 | at SMU | ||
| Sep 28, 2013 | TCU 48, SMU 17 | at TCU | ||
| Sep 29, 2012 | 15TCU 24, SMU 16 | at SMU | ||
| Oct 1, 2011 | SMU 40, 20TCU 33 | at TCU | ||
| Sep 24, 2010 | 4TCU 41, SMU 24 | at SMU | ||
| Oct 3, 2009 | 11TCU 39, SMU 14 | at TCU | ||
| Sep 20, 2008 | TCU 48, SMU 7 | at SMU | ||
| Sep 22, 2007 | TCU 21, SMU 7 | at TCU | ||
| Sep 10, 2005 | SMU 21, 22TCU 10 | at SMU | ||
| Sep 11, 2004 | TCU 44, SMU 0 | at TCU | ||
| Nov 29, 2003 | 19TCU 20, SMU 13 | at SMU | ||
| Sep 14, 2002 | TCU 17, SMU 6 | at TCU | ||
| Sep 8, 2001 | TCU 38, SMU 10 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 24, 2000 | 13TCU 62, SMU 7 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 26, 1999 | TCU 21, SMU 0 | at TCU | ||
| Oct 17, 1998 | SMU 10, TCU 6vacated | at SMU | ||
| Nov 20, 1997 | TCU 21, SMU 18 | at TCU | ||
| Nov 21, 1996 | SMU 27, TCU 24 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 4, 1995 | TCU 19, SMU 16 | at TCU | ||
| Nov 12, 1994 | TCU 35, SMU 14 | at SMU | ||
| Sep 25, 1993 | SMU 21, TCU 15 | at TCU | ||
| Sep 26, 1992 | SMU 21, TCU 9 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 2, 1991 | TCU 18, SMU 10 | at TCU | ||
| Sep 29, 1990 | TCU 42, SMU 21 | at SMU | ||
| Sep 30, 1989 | TCU 28, SMU 10 | at TCU | ||
| Sep 27, 1986 | SMU 31, TCU 21 | Neutral site | ||
| Sep 28, 1985 | 6SMU 56, TCU 21 | at TCU | ||
| Sep 29, 1984 | 11SMU 26, TCU 17 | at SMU | ||
| Sep 24, 1983 | 18SMU 21, TCU 17 | at TCU | ||
| Sep 25, 1982 | 6SMU 16, TCU 13 | at SMU | ||
| Sep 26, 1981 | 20SMU 20, TCU 9 | at TCU | ||
| Sep 20, 1980 | SMU 17, TCU 14 | at SMU | ||
| Sep 15, 1979 | 20SMU 27, TCU 7 | at TCU | ||
| Sep 9, 1978 | SMU 45, TCU 14 | at SMU | ||
| Sep 10, 1977 | SMU 45, TCU 21 | at TCU | ||
| Sep 11, 1976 | SMU 34, TCU 14 | at SMU | ||
| Oct 10, 1975 | SMU 28, TCU 13 | at SMU | ||
| Oct 12, 1974 | SMU 33, TCU 13 | at TCU | ||
| Dec 1, 1973 | SMU 21, TCU 19 | at SMU | ||
| Dec 2, 1972 | SMU 35, TCU 22 | at TCU | ||
| Nov 27, 1971 | TCU 18, SMU 16 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 28, 1970 | TCU 26, SMU 17 | at TCU | ||
| Oct 10, 1969 | SMU 19, TCU 17 | at SMU | ||
| Oct 12, 1968 | SMU 21, TCU 14 | at TCU | ||
| Dec 2, 1967 | SMU 28, TCU 14 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 26, 1966 | SMU 21, TCU 0 | at TCU | ||
| Nov 27, 1965 | TCU 10, SMU 7 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 28, 1964 | TCU 17, SMU 6 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 23, 1963 | TCU 22, SMU 15 | at TCU | ||
| Dec 1, 1962 | TCU 14, SMU 9 | at SMU | ||
| Dec 2, 1961 | TCU 28, SMU 28 | at TCU | ||
| Nov 26, 1960 | TCU 13, SMU 0 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 28, 1959 | 8TCU 19, SMU 0 | at TCU | ||
| Nov 29, 1958 | SMU 20, 7TCU 13 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 30, 1957 | TCU 21, SMU 0 | at TCU | ||
| Dec 1, 1956 | 14TCU 21, SMU 6 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 26, 1955 | TCU 20, 16SMU 13 | at TCU | ||
| Nov 27, 1954 | SMU 21, TCU 6 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 28, 1953 | TCU 13, SMU 0 | at TCU | ||
| Nov 29, 1952 | TCU 14, SMU 7 | at SMU | ||
| Dec 1, 1951 | 11TCU 13, SMU 2 | at TCU | ||
| Dec 2, 1950 | TCU 27, SMU 13 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 26, 1949 | TCU 21, SMU 13 | at TCU | ||
| Nov 27, 1948 | 8SMU 7, TCU 7 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 29, 1947 | TCU 19, 3SMU 19 | at TCU | ||
| Nov 30, 1946 | SMU 30, TCU 13 | at SMU | ||
| Dec 1, 1945 | SMU 34, TCU 0 | at TCU | ||
| Dec 2, 1944 | SMU 9, TCU 6 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 27, 1943 | SMU 20, TCU 0 | at TCU | ||
| Nov 28, 1942 | TCU 14, SMU 6 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 29, 1941 | TCU 15, SMU 13 | at TCU | ||
| Nov 30, 1940 | 16SMU 16, TCU 0 | at SMU | ||
| Dec 2, 1939 | SMU 14, TCU 7 | at TCU | ||
| Nov 26, 1938 | 2TCU 20, SMU 7 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 27, 1937 | 14TCU 3, SMU 0 | at TCU | ||
| Nov 28, 1936 | SMU 0, 18TCU 0 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 30, 1935 | SMU 20, TCU 14 | at TCU | ||
| Dec 1, 1934 | SMU 19, TCU 0 | at SMU | ||
| Dec 2, 1933 | TCU 26, SMU 6 | at TCU | ||
| Nov 26, 1932 | TCU 8, SMU 0 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 28, 1931 | TCU 0, SMU 0 | at TCU | ||
| Nov 29, 1930 | TCU 13, SMU 0 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 30, 1929 | TCU 7, SMU 7 | at TCU | ||
| Nov 19, 1927 | SMU 28, TCU 6 | at TCU | ||
| Nov 25, 1926 | SMU 14, TCU 13 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 29, 1925 | TCU 15, SMU 6 | at SMU | ||
| Nov 1, 1924 | SMU 6, TCU 0 | at TCU | ||
| Nov 4, 1923 | SMU 40, TCU 0 | at SMU | ||
| Dec 2, 1922 | TCU 0, SMU 0 | at TCU | ||
| Nov 12, 1921 | TCU 13, SMU 6 | at SMU | ||
| Oct 20, 1917 | TCU 21, SMU 0 | at TCU | ||
| Oct 14, 1916 | TCU 48, SMU 3 | at SMU | ||
| Oct 8, 1915 | TCU 43, SMU 0 | at TCU |
Every game is listed as played on the field; a win the NCAA later vacated is marked “vacated”; the official series above counts them the NCAA’s way.