Rice–SMU football rivalry

The Rice–SMU football rivalry is an American college football rivalry^{[citation needed]} between the Rice University Owls and Southern Methodist University Mustangs. The game was first played in 1916, and since 1998 the winner was awarded the Mayor's Cup. SMU leads the series 49–41–1.

Rice–SMU football rivalry

Rice Owls SMU Mustangs
First meeting	November 17, 1916 Rice 146, SMU 3
Latest meeting	November 4, 2023 SMU 36, Rice 31
Next meeting	TBD
Trophy	Mayor's Cup
Statistics
Meetings total	91
All-time series	SMU leads, 49–41–1[1]
Trophy series	Rice leads, 9–7
Largest victory	Rice, 146–3 (1916)
Longest win streak	SMU, 10 (1977–1986)
Current win streak	SMU, 1 (2023–present)

250km
155miles

SMU

Rice

   

Locations of Rice and SMU

History

The football squads of Rice University and Southern Methodist University, two of the smallest schools in NCAA Division I FBS, first played in 1916, with Rice winning 146–3. In 1918, both schools joined the Southwest Conference, and from 1926 they played every year except for 1987 and 1988, after the NCAA gave SMU's football program the "death penalty" following a cheating scandal. They played in the same conference until 2012, beginning with the Southwest (1918–1995), then the Western Athletic Conference (1996–2005) and Conference USA (2005–2012). The two teams have met 91 times, with SMU leading 49–41–1.^[1]

Mayor's Cup

In 1998 a traveling trophy, the "Mayor's Cup", was introduced to the series, and has been awarded to the winner each year. SMU currently holds the trophy after the 2023 game, but Rice leads the trophy series 9–7. However, SMU and Rice did not play each other from 2013-2022 as SMU left Conference USA for the American Athletic Conference for the 2013 season. On June 15, 2022, Rice announced they would be officially joining the American for the 2023 season, renewing the series.^[2] On November 9, 2022, the American announced the football scheduling model for the 2023–26 seasons, with Rice–SMU scheduled to meet in 2023, 2024, and 2026.^[3]

However, on September 1, 2023, SMU accepted an invitation to join the Atlantic Coast Conference starting in 2024, which once again puts the future of the Mayor's Cup in doubt.

Game results

Rice victories

SMU victories

Tie games

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 November 17, 1916 Rice Field Rice 146–3 2 November 30, 1918 Rice Field Rice 13–0 3 November 8, 1919 Rice Field Rice 21–14 4 November 6, 1920 Armstrong Field Rice 10–0 5 November 5, 1921 Rice Field Rice 7–0 6 November 6, 1926 Ownby Stadium SMU 20–0 7 October 14, 1927 Rice Field SMU 34–6 8 October 20, 1928 Ownby Stadium SMU 53–13 9 November 23, 1929 Ownby Stadium SMU 34–0 10 November 22, 1930 Rice Field SMU 32–0 11 October 17, 1931 Rice Field SMU 21–12 12 October 8, 1932 Ownby Stadium Rice 13–0 13 October 14, 1933 Rice Field SMU 13–7 14 October 13, 1934 Rice Field Rice 9–0 15 October 19, 1935 Ownby Stadium SMU 10–0 16 December 5, 1936 Rice Field SMU 9–0 17 December 4, 1937 Ownby Stadium Rice 15–7 18 December 3, 1938 Rice Field Rice 25–14 19 December 9, 1939 Ownby Stadium SMU 13–6 20 December 7, 1940 Rice Field #16 SMU 7–6 21 December 6, 1941 Ownby Stadium Rice 6–0 22 December 5, 1942 Rice Field Rice 13–7 23 October 16, 1943 Ownby Stadium SMU 12–0 24 October 21, 1944 Rice Field Rice 21–10 25 October 20, 1945 Ownby Stadium SMU 21–18 26 October 19, 1946 Rice Field #16 Rice 21–7 27 October 18, 1947 Ownby Stadium SMU 14–0 28 October 16, 1948 Rice Field #14 SMU 33–7 29 October 15, 1949 Cotton Bowl Rice 41–27 30 October 21, 1950 Rice Stadium #3 SMU 42–21 31 October 20, 1951 Cotton Bowl Rice 28–7 32 October 18, 1952 Rice Stadium SMU 21–14 33 October 17, 1953 Cotton Bowl SMU 12–7 34 October 16, 1954 Rice Stadium SMU 20–6 35 October 15, 1955 Cotton Bowl SMU 20–0 36 October 20, 1956 Rice Stadium SMU 14–13 37 October 19, 1957 Cotton Bowl #19 Rice 27–21 38 October 18, 1958 Cotton Bowl Rice 13–7 39 October 17, 1959 Rice Stadium Tie 13–13 40 October 15, 1960 Cotton Bowl Rice 47–0 41 October 21, 1961 Rice Stadium Rice 10–0 42 October 20, 1962 Cotton Bowl SMU 15–7 43 October 19, 1963 Rice Stadium Rice 13–7 44 October 17, 1964 Cotton Bowl Rice 7–6 45 October 16, 1965 Rice Stadium SMU 17–14 46 October 15, 1966 Cotton Bowl SMU 28–24 No. Date Location Winner Score 47 October 21, 1967 Rice Stadium Rice 14–10 48 October 19, 1968 Cotton Bowl SMU 32–24 49 October 18, 1969 Rice Stadium SMU 34–14 50 October 17, 1970 Cotton Bowl SMU 10–0 51 October 16, 1971 Rice Stadium SMU 16–0 52 October 21, 1972 Cotton Bowl SMU 29–14 53 October 20, 1973 Rice Stadium SMU 27–16 54 October 19, 1974 Cotton Bowl SMU 19–14 55 October 18, 1975 Rice Stadium Rice 28–17 56 November 6, 1976 Rice Stadium Rice 41–34 57 November 5, 1977 Cotton Bowl SMU 41–24 58 November 11, 1978 Rice Stadium SMU 58–0 59 September 8, 1979 Texas Stadium SMU 35–17 60 November 8, 1980 Rice Stadium #18 SMU 34–14 61 November 7, 1981 Texas Stadium #10 SMU 33–12 62 November 6, 1982 Rice Stadium #2 SMU 41–14 63 November 5, 1983 Texas Stadium #8 SMU 20–6 64 November 10, 1984 Rice Stadium #17 SMU 31–17 65 November 9, 1985 Texas Stadium SMU 40–15 66 September 13, 1986 Rice Stadium SMU 45–3 67 September 2, 1989 Ownby Stadium Rice 35–6 68 November 10, 1990 Rice Stadium Rice 30–28 69 November 9, 1991 Ownby Stadium Rice 31–10 70 October 10, 1992 Rice Stadium Rice 28–13 71 November 6, 1993 Ownby Stadium Rice 31–24 72 November 5, 1994 Rice Stadium Rice 17–10 73 October 28, 1995 Cotton Bowl Rice 34–24 74 October 19, 1996 Rice Stadium Rice 35–17 75 November 1, 1997 Cotton Bowl SMU 24–6 76 September 9, 1998 Rice Stadium Rice 23–17OT 77 October 30, 1999 Cotton Bowl SMU 27–2 78 November 4, 2000 Rice Stadium Rice 43–14 79 November 24, 2001 Gerald J. Ford Stadium SMU 37–20 80 October 26, 2002 Rice Stadium Rice 27–15 81 November 15, 2003 Gerald J. Ford Stadium Rice 41–20 82 October 9, 2004 Rice Stadium Rice 44–10 83 November 5, 2005 Gerald J. Ford Stadium SMU 27–7 84 November 25, 2006 Rice Stadium Rice 31–27 85 November 10, 2007 Gerald J. Ford Stadium Rice 43–42 86 August 29, 2008 Rice Stadium Rice 56–27 87 November 7, 2009 Gerald J. Ford Stadium SMU 31–28 88 October 2, 2010 Rice Stadium SMU 42–31 89 November 26, 2011 Gerald J. Ford Stadium SMU 27–24 90 November 17, 2012 Rice Stadium Rice 36–14 91 November 4, 2023 Rice Stadium SMU 36–31 Series: SMU leads 49–41–1[1]

See also

• List of NCAA college football rivalry games