Houston–SMU football rivalry

Houston–SMU football rivalry
	Houston SMU
First meeting	September 27, 1975; SMU 27, Houston 16
Latest meeting	November 4, 2018; SMU 45, Houston 31
Next meeting	2019
Statistics
Meetings total	33
All-time series	Houston leads, 21–12–1
Largest victory	Houston, 95–21 (1989)
Longest win streak	Houston, 6 (2006–11)
Current win streak	SMU, 1 (2018–present)

Last updated April 07, 2019

Houston

SMU

Locations in Texas

The Houston–SMU football rivalry is a college football rivalry between the Houston Cougars and SMU Mustangs. The two schools are the only Texas universities in the American Athletic Conference, making the in-state rivalry all the more competitive. As of the end of the 2018 season, Houston leads the series 21–12–1.^[1]

College football is American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States.

Pairs of schools, colleges and universities, especially when they are close to each other either geographically or in their areas of specialization, often establish a college rivalry with each other over the years. This rivalry can extend to both academics and athletics, the latter being typically better known to the general public. These schools place an added emphasis on emerging victorious in any event that includes their rival. This may include the creation of a special trophy or other commemoration of the event. While many of these rivalries have arisen spontaneously, some have been created by college officials in efforts to sell more tickets and support their programs.

The Houston Cougars football program is an NCAA Division I FBS football team that represents the University of Houston. The team is commonly referred to as "Houston" or "UH". The UH football program is a member of the American Athletic Conference West Division. Since the 2014 season, the Cougars have played their home games on campus at TDECU Stadium, which was built on the site formerly occupied by Robertson Stadium, where they played home games from 1941 to 1950 and from 1997 to 2012. Over the history of the program, the Cougars have won eleven conference championships and have had several players elected to the College Football Hall of Fame, including a Heisman Trophy winner.

Series history

The first game took place on September 27, 1975, in Houston, Texas, and the two schools have continued to play each other with few interruptions since. Houston and SMU spent much of their athletic histories as members of the same conference: the Southwest Conference from 1977 to 1995, the Conference USA from 2005 to 2012, and their current conference of the American Athletic Conference since 2013.^[2]

The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma and Arkansas as well.

Conference USA US college sports conference

Conference USA is a collegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas.

The American Athletic Conference (AAC), also known as "the American", is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 12 member universities and six associate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I, with its football teams competing in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Member universities represent a range of private and public universities of various enrollment sizes located primarily in urban metropolitan areas in the Northeastern, Midwestern, and Southern regions of the United States.

1983 Mirage Bowl

The Tokyo, Japan bowl known as the Mirage Bowl was the longest road trip for both schools in their school history. A crowd of 62,000 watched as Lance McIlhenny led the Mustangs with two touchdown passes and along with the mistakes of the Cougars, which helped SMU take the victory 34–12.^[3]^[4]

Tokyo, officially Tokyo Metropolis, one of the 47 prefectures of Japan, has served as the Japanese capital since 1869. As of 2018, the Greater Tokyo Area ranked as the most populous metropolitan area in the world. The urban area houses the seat of the Emperor of Japan, of the Japanese government and of the National Diet. Tokyo forms part of the Kantō region on the southeastern side of Japan's main island, Honshu, and includes the Izu Islands and Ogasawara Islands. Tokyo was formerly named Edo when Shōgun Tokugawa Ieyasu made the city his headquarters in 1603. It became the capital after Emperor Meiji moved his seat to the city from Kyoto in 1868; at that time Edo was renamed Tokyo. Tokyo Metropolis formed in 1943 from the merger of the former Tokyo Prefecture and the city of Tokyo. Tokyo is often referred to as a city but is officially known and governed as a "metropolitan prefecture", which differs from and combines elements of a city and a prefecture, a characteristic unique to Tokyo.

The Coca-Cola Classic was a regular season National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) college football game played in Tokyo, Japan, from 1977 to 1993. It was originally sponsored by Mitsubishi and known as the Mirage Bowl, and later sponsored by The Coca-Cola Company and renamed for the soft drink Coca-Cola Classic. Because the game was merely a re-location of a regular season game, it was not considered a traditional, postseason bowl game.

Lance McIlhenny is a former American college football player who was an award-winning quarterback for Southern Methodist University. He led the SMU Mustangs to two Southwest Conference championships.

2016: Houston's possible New Year's Six Bowl dreams derailed

The 2016 Houston Cougars football team were picked by many experts to obtain the Group of Five's New Year's Six bowl bid, having only one close loss to Navy earlier in the season. However, the #11-ranked Cougars were upset by SMU 16 to 38 and the Cougars dropped out of the AP Poll the following week. It represented the Mustangs' first win over a ranked team since 2011.

The 2016 Houston Cougars football team represented the University of Houston in the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. It was the 69th year of season play for Houston. They were led by head coach Tom Herman during the regular season and played their home games at TDECU Stadium in Houston. The Houston Cougars football team is a member of the American Athletic Conference in its West Division. They finished the season 9–4, 5–3 in American Athletic play to finish in a tie for third place in the West Division. They were invited to the Las Vegas Bowl where they lost to San Diego State.

The 2016 Navy Midshipmen football team represented the United States Naval Academy in the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Midshipmen were led by ninth-year head coach Ken Niumatalolo and played their home games at Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. The Midshipmen competed as a member of the West Division of the American Athletic Conference, and were second year members of the conference. They finished the season 9–5, 7–1 in American Athletic play to be champions of the West Division. They represented the West Division in The American Athletic Championship Game where they lost to Temple. They were invited to the Armed Forces Bowl where they lost to Louisiana Tech.

The 2016 SMU Mustangs football team represented Southern Methodist University in the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Mustangs played their home games at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in University Park, Texas, and competed in the West Division of American Athletic Conference (AAC). They were led by second-year head coach Chad Morris. They finished the season 5–7, 3–5 in American Athletic play to finish in fifth place in the West Division.

Game results

Houston victories	SMU victories	Tie games

No.	Date	Location	Winner	Score
1	September 27, 1975	Houston	SMU	27–16
2	October 16, 1976	Dallas	#19 Houston	29–6
3	October 15, 1977	Houston	SMU	37–23
4	October 21, 1978	Dallas	#11 Houston	42–28
5	October 20, 1979	Houston	#5 Houston	37–10
6	October 18, 1980	Irving	Houston	13–11
7	October 17, 1981	Houston	#10 SMU	38–22
8	October 16, 1982	Irving	#5 SMU	20–14
9	November 26, 1983	Tokyo, Japan	#6 SMU	34–12
10	October 20, 1984	Irving	Houston	29–20
11	October 19, 1985	Houston	SMU	37–13
12	October 18, 1986	Irving	#20 SMU	10–3
13	October 21, 1989	Houston	#16 Houston	95–21
14	October 20, 1990	Dallas	#9 Houston	44–17
15	October 19, 1991	Houston	Houston	49–20
16	November 7, 1992	Dallas	SMU	41–16
17	October 16, 1993	Houston	Tie	28–28
18	October 15, 1994	Dallas	Houston	39–33

No.	Date	Location	Winner	Score
19	October 21, 1995	Houston	Houston	38–15
20	September 30, 2000	Houston	Houston	17–15
21	November 19, 2005	Houston	SMU	29–24
22	November 11, 2006	Dallas	Houston	37–27
23	November 4, 2007	Houston	Houston	38–28
24	October 18, 2008	Dallas	Houston	44–38
25	October 24, 2009	Houston	#17 Houston	38–15
26	October 23, 2010	Dallas	Houston	45–20
27	November 19, 2011	Houston	#11 Houston	37–7
28	October 18, 2012	Dallas	SMU	72–42
29	November 29, 2013	Houston	Houston	34–0
30	November 28, 2014	Dallas	Houston	35–9
31	October 8, 2015	Houston	Houston	49–28
32	October 22, 2016	Dallas	SMU	38–16
33	October 7, 2017	Houston	Houston	35–22
34	November 3, 2018	Dallas	SMU	45–31
Series: Houston leads 21–12–1

References

↑ "Houston Game by Game against Opponents". cfbdatawarehouse.com. Retrieved 2015-11-27.
↑ "Old Big East now American Athletic". ESPN. April 4, 2013.
↑ "S.M.U. Turns Back Houston in Tokyo". New York Times. November 28, 1983.
↑ "Pony Express goes to Japan in 1983". New York Times. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved November 27, 2015.

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[cfbdatawarehouse-1] "Houston Game by Game against Opponents". cfbdatawarehouse.com. Retrieved 2015-11-27.

[2] "Old Big East now American Athletic". ESPN. April 4, 2013.

[3] "S.M.U. Turns Back Houston in Tokyo". New York Times. November 28, 1983.

[4] "Pony Express goes to Japan in 1983". New York Times. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved November 27, 2015.

v t e Houston Cougars football
Venues	Robertson Stadium (1946–1950, 1998–2012) Rice Stadium (1951–1964) Astrodome (1965–1997) Reliant Stadium (2013) BBVA Compass Stadium (2013) TDECU Stadium (2014–present)
Bowls and rivalries	Bowl games Rice: Bayou Bucket Classic SMU Tulsa Texas
Culture & lore	Shasta "Cougar Fight Song" Spirit of Houston The Comeback Victory
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

v t e SMU Mustangs football
Venues	Armstrong Field (1915–1925) Ownby Stadium (1926–1948, 1989–1994) Cotton Bowl (1932–1978, 1995–1999) Texas Stadium (1972–1973, 1979–1986) Gerald J. Ford Stadium (2000–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Houston Navy: Gansz Trophy North Texas: Safeway Bowl Rice: Mayor's Cup TCU: Battle for the Iron Skillet
Culture & lore	Peruna Best Dressed Band in the Land Southern Methodist University football scandal
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
National championship seasons in bold