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TheHouston–SMU rivalry is acollege rivalry between theUniversity of HoustonCougars andSouthern Methodist UniversityMustangs.[1][2][3][4] When Houston joined theSouthwest Conference in 1972, the two schools were conference mates until the conference dissolved in 1996. After a brief hiatus, SMU would joinConference USA in 2005 and the rivalry would continue when both schools moved to theAmerican Athletic Conference in 2013 during the midst of2010–2014 NCAA conference realignment, where it intensified as they were they only two schools fromTexas in the conference. Later, with the two schools moving to separate conferences during the2020s conference realignment — Houston to theBig 12 Conference in 2023 and SMU to theAtlantic Coast Conference in 2024 — the future of the rivalry was put in doubt.[5]
| Sport | Football |
|---|---|
| Teams | |
| First meeting | September 27, 1975 SMU 27, Houston 16 |
| Latest meeting | November 5, 2022 SMU 77, Houston 63 |
| Next meeting | TBD |
| Statistics | |
| Meetings total | 37 |
| All-time series | Houston leads, 22–14–1 |
| Largest victory | Houston, 95–21 (1989) |
| Longest win streak | Houston, 6 (2006–2011) |
| Current win streak | SMU, 1 (2022–present) |
| Houston | SMU | |
|---|---|---|
| First Season | 1946 | 1915 |
| National Championships | 0 | 3 |
| New Year's Six wins | 1 | 0 |
| Playoff Appearances | 0 | 1 |
| Bowl Appearances | 30 | 21 |
| Bowl Wins | 13 | 7 |
| Conference Championships | 11 | 12 |
| Heisman Winners | 1 | 1 |
The first game took place on September 27, 1975, inHouston, Texas, and the two schools played each other with few interruptions until Houston departed for the Big 12 in 2023. As of the end of the 2024 season, Houston leads the series 22–14–1.[6]
November 26, 1983: TheMirage Bowl (inTokyo, Japan) was the longest road trip for both teams in their history. A crowd of 70,000 watched asLance McIlhenny led the Mustangs with two touchdown passes and along with the mistakes of the Cougars, helped SMU take a 34–12 victory.[7][8]
October 20, 1984: No. 6 SMU entered the game undefeated at 4–0 and looking for an easy win against the 3–2 Cougars. However, Houston would pull off the upset, handing the Mustangs an unlikely 29–20 loss and denying them a spot in theCotton Bowl.[9]
October 21, 1989: SMU was playing in its first season back from thedeath penalty while Houston was coming off of a strong 9–3 campaign in 1988. However, Houston was hit with a two year bowl ban starting in 1989 for recruiting violations, so the Cougars were out for blood during the regular season. EventualHeisman Trophy winnerAndre Ware would throw for 517 yards, only playing in the first half. The Cougars would break a number of NCAA records, embarrassing the sanction-weakened Mustangs 95–21.[10]
November 19, 2011: In Houston's last home conference game of the season, they were selected to hostCollege GameDay byESPN in what would be the first ever appearance on the program for both schools.[11] Houston entered the week 10–0 and ranked No. 10/11 in theAP Poll andBCS while SMU were 6–4, having lost the week prior at home toNavy. During the broadcast, Olympic gold medalist and former Houston track & field starCarl Lewis was the guest picker andLee Corso put onShasta's headgear to indicate he predicted Houston to win the game.[12] Led by star quarterbackCase Keenum, Houston would cruise to a 37–7 victory.[13]
October 22, 2016: The2016 Houston team was picked by many experts to obtain theGroup of Five's New Year's Six bowl bid, having only one close loss toNavy earlier in the season. However, the No. 11-ranked Cougars were upset bySMU 38–16, dropping them out of the AP Poll the following week. It was the Mustangs' first win over a ranked team since 2011.[14]
October 30, 2021: The 2021 match-up between the two schools would prove to be season changing.SMU entered the game ranked No. 19 in theAP Poll and undefeated at 7–0, whileHouston had a 6–1 record, with their only loss coming in their first game of the season againstTexas Tech. In the first quarter, Houston would take a 17–0 lead, fueled by twoClayton Tune touchdown passes toNathaniel Dell. In the second and third quarters, SMU fought back and took a 34–30 lead. Houston reclaimed the lead early in the 4th quarter when Tune threw a short touchdown pass to KeSean Carter. The Mustangs tied the game 37–37 with 30 seconds remaining after a 46-yardfield goal fromBlake Mazza, but during the ensuingkickoff,Marcus Jones returned the ball 100 yards to win the game and pull off the upset.[15][4] The Cougars would go on to make theconference championship game (their only other loss that season) and finish with a 12–2 record and ranked No. 17 on the AP Poll, while SMU lost three of their remaining four games to end the season at 8–4.
November 5, 2022: In what would prove to be their last match-up as members ofThe American, Houston entered the season as favorites to win the conference, but had slumped to a 5–3 record while SMU were 4–4 under new coachRhett Lashlee. The game would prove to be a high-scoring affair with a scoreline more common inbasketball as SMU won 77–63. The combined 140 points broke the record for most points scored between two teams in an FBS football game in regulation, set six years earlier whenPittsburgh beat Syracuse 76–61.[16] Every point scored between both teams was a touchdown followed by an extra point, with SMU scoring on each of their first nine drives.[17]
Rankings are from theAP Poll released prior to the game.
| Houston victories | SMU victories | Tie games |
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A1983 Mirage Bowl
B2022 Houston vs. SMU football game
| Sport | Basketball |
|---|---|
| Teams | |
| First meeting | March 16, 1956 SMU 89 – Houston 74 |
| Latest meeting | February 16, 2023 Houston 80 – SMU 65 |
| Next meeting | TBD |
| Statistics | |
| Meetings total | 92 |
| All-time series | Houston leads, 58–34 |
| Largest victory | Houston, 95–55 (February 13, 1978) |
| Longest win streak | Houston, 9 (February 11, 2006–February 13, 2010) |
| Current win streak | Houston, 3 (February 27, 2022–present) |
| Houston | SMU | |
|---|---|---|
| First Season | 1945–46 | 1916–17 |
| NCAA Final Fours | 7 | 1 |
| NCAA Tournament Appearances | 26 | 12 |
| Conference Championships | 13 | 16 |
| Conference Tournament Championships | 9 | 3 |
| Consensus All-Americans | 7 | 2 |
| Conference Player of the Year | 7 | 11 |
Houston and SMU would meet three times in the NCAA Tournament before playing in a regular season game, first in 1972. Throughout their shared time in theSouthwest Conference, the Cougars and Mustangs would meet seven times in theSouthwest Conference men's basketball tournament, with SMU leading 4–3 in their meetings then. The teams have also been conference mates inConference USA and theAmerican Athletic Conference, meeting once each in the tournaments for each conference. As of the end of the 2024–25 season, Houston leads the all-time series 58–34.
March 16, 1956: In the teams' first ever meeting, they first played atAllen Fieldhouse in the1956 NCAA Sweet Sixteen. All-AmericanJim Krebs would score 27 points to lead the No. 7 Mustangs to victory 89–74 and an eventual Final Four.[18]
March 13, 1965: In the teams' second meeting, Houston and SMU met to play in the1965 NCAA Regional third place Game. Behind 27 points fromCarroll Hooser, the Mustangs would again pull out a win against the Cougars, 89–87.[19]
March 18, 1967: In their third meeting in the NCAA Tournament, a Final Four was on the line as the teams met in the1967 NCAA Elite Eight. This time, fortune would favor the Cougars. Led by 31 points from Elvin Hayes, Houston would gain their first series win by a score of 83–75.[20]
January 16, 1982: In the first year ofPhi Slama Jama, SMU visited No. 10 Houston and upset the Cougars 67–66. Houston would go onto the1982 Final Four, while SMU finished with a 6–21 record on the season.
March 12, 1983: After beating the Mustangs twice in the regular season, Houston would meet SMU once again in the1983 Southwest Conference tournament semifinals. Houston would maintain their winning streak against SMU, prevailing 75–59. Houston would go on to win the conference tournament and make an NCAA run before finally losing toNC State in the1983 NCAA Finals.
March 3, 1985: With the days ofPhi Slama Jama behind them, the tables turned in favor of SMU with the Mustangs beating No. 11 Oklahoma and No. 5 North Carolina during the1984–85 season. The No. 13 Mustangs headed to Houston for their final regular season game, only to be handed a 79–76 upset loss.
February 1, 2016: No. 12 SMU seemed to be heading in the right direction under the leadership of coachLarry Brown, visiting the Cougars with a 19–1 record on the season and having already beaten them earlier in the year. CoachKelvin Sampson would earn his first win against SMU, when the Cougars pulled the upset to win 71–68. It was the Cougars' biggest victory since January 1996, when they defeated No. 3 Memphis.[21]
Rankings are from theAP Poll released prior to the game.
| Houston victories | SMU victories |
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A1956 NCAA basketball tournament
B1965 NCAA University Division basketball tournament
C1967 NCAA University Division basketball tournament
D1979 Southwest Conference men's basketball tournament
E1983 Southwest Conference men's basketball tournament
F1985 Southwest Conference men's basketball tournament
G1988 Southwest Conference men's basketball tournament
H1991 Southwest Conference men's basketball tournament
I1992 Southwest Conference men's basketball tournament
J1996 Southwest Conference men's basketball tournament
K2009 Conference USA men's basketball tournament
L2014 American Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament
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