The 103rd Battle for the Iron Skillet could be the second-to-last in a rivalry that dates back to 1915, when a TCU squad led by Ewing Y. Freeland beat SMU and head coach Ray Morrison, 43-0, in Fort Worth. The only four intrastate rivalries from Texas to play more often than SMU and TCU are TCU-Baylor (119), Texas-Texas A&M (118), Texas-Baylor (113), and A&M-Baylor (108).   

Notice a theme? The Texas vs. Texas A&M rivalry was relegated to social media and baseball coaching dramas. The “Battle of the Brazos” between the Aggies and Baylor ended when Texas A&M joined the SEC over a decade ago. The Texas-Baylor rivalry likely ended on the gridiron when the Longhorns made the same jump in 2024. This carnage isn’t reserved for the FBS level – SFA and Sam Houston played 96 times before the Bearkats’ jump to Conference USA ended the “Battle of the Piney Woods.” 

When the Iron Skillet fades into history, four of the top six most played intrastate rivalry games between two teams from the Lone Star State are gone. And all the bragging rights and friendly trash talk goes with it. College football grew to national prominence because of its regionality. Beating your neighbor’s favorite team, and then proceeding to never let him forget it for the next 364 days, was the best part. Now, the sports soul is actively being replaced by money and cowardice. 

The same scene is playing out in Houston, as the Bayou Bucket Game between Rice and Houston isn’t scheduled beyond 2025, just like the Iron Skillet. The two campuses are separated by 4.6 miles. The Cougars, who recently entered the Big 12, lead the series 34-12 and reportedly backed out of the rivalry following the 2023 loss to the Owls. 

What does Houston have to gain by playing its G5 neighbor? A win doesn’t push the Cougars up the rankings or help in recruiting. A loss surely helps the Owls more. But maybe it is bigger than instant gains by one of the football teams. Maybe college football is more than a way to make rich execs and administrations richer. Maybe the traditions and history of the sport deserve a voice. 

“As we all know, traditions are falling apart,” Mike Pede told the Houston Touchdown Club ahead of the 2024 Bayou Bucket, which Houston won with ease. He’s the head of Houston’s alumni association, who has also worked at Rice for over a decade. “So, on my soap box for a moment, traditions mean something. They mean something to the teams. They mean something to the fans. They mean something to the cities. 

“So, we have to be sure the greatest traditions we honor are the ones that we don’t take apart. Let’s not make our tradition that we take traditions down. Let’s make sure that our traditions continue. Let’s make sure these two schools play not only in football but in every sport.” 

UH athletic director Eddie Nunez and Rice athletic director Tommy McClelland both expressed interest to sit down and discuss the rivalry soon. The Bayou Bucket has an interesting challenge that the Iron Skillet no longer faces – each P4 team must play one non-conference game against another member of the P4. That makes it even harder for the Cougars to find room for the Owls, but it shouldn’t stop the Horned Frogs from facing the Ponies. Not anymore. 

TCU announced its intentions to pause the Iron Skillet ahead of the 2023 season, before the Mustangs were voted into the ACC as P4 members. TCU athletic director Jeremiah Donati indicated that the reason for the pause is so that his Frogs can add another home game to the yearly schedule. He’s open to future home games against SMU, but not trips to the Hilltop. 

The need for money, and easier wins to bolster College Football Playoff cases, outweigh the history and tradition. The 2026 schedule includes a home game against Arkansas State. Sam Houston visits Amon G. Carter in 2027.  

“It is disappointing for Metroplex football fans,” SMU athletic director Rick Hart said in a statement last year when TCU paused the series following the 2025 game. “This is a rivalry that has spanned a century-plus. It is the Battle for the Iron Skillet, Dallas versus Fort Worth, Doak Walker versus Sammy Baugh, the Pony Express versus LaDainian Tomlinson, and more…Our hope is that TCU will resume the series, as we at SMU want to continue this rivalry in perpetuity.” 

Winning on the field feels less important than ever in college football. We get 12 or 13 true Saturdays of action and countless weeks of conference realignment rumors and court rulings. Gaining admission into the right country club – the SEC and the Big Ten – means more than geography. Dunking on your rival fan base for how below you they are has become more enjoyable than winning the game. Not scheduling your rival to avoid a potential perception hit that could hurt recruiting is lame, especially when bolstered by television rankings. As if we need the world to watch us to enjoy bashing in our brother’s skull. 

What happened to the game we love? Texas is too cool to schedule TCU or Baylor or Texas Tech. In turn, TCU is too cool to play SMU and Houston blushes at the thought of losing to Rice more than once a decade. Sam Houston won’t dip into the FCS ranks to play SFA and give the Jacks a chance at scoreboard. It’s all lame. 

The powers across the pond tried to do to European football what we’ve done to college football with the advent of the Super League. While fans of Oregon and Washington and Texas looked down their noses at their rivals at Oregon State and Washington State and Baylor while walking into their fancy exclusive club, the supporters of Man City and Liverpool and Barcelona revolted. 

We’re to blame, of course. We didn’t just let the fox in the henhouse, we invited it over. We wanted our little regional sport to have a clear national champion and for it to look more and more like the NFL. We wanted the biggest ratings and the national spotlight matchups. And that’s exactly what we’re getting, but it doesn’t feel like anyone is happy about it.