Life has been good for the SMU Mustangs over the past two college football seasons, reaching the conference championship in each season despite climbing to a more powerful conference in 2024.
SMU had an outstanding debut season in the ACC after a bit of a scare in nonconference play. The Mustangs' only regular season loss came to BYU in early September, and they reached the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff as the runner-up in their new conference.
Unfortunately, the season ended with a humbling loss to Penn State. Here is what awaits SMU as it tries to build on its recent success and return to the College Football Playoff and the national spotlight in 2025.
SMU 2025 football schedule
Date | Opponent |
|---|---|
Aug. 30 | East Texas A&M |
Sep. 6 | Baylor |
Sep. 13 | at Missouri State |
Sep. 20 | at TCU |
Sep. 27 | BYE |
Oct. 4 | Syracuse |
Oct. 11 | Stanford |
Oct. 18 | at Clemson |
Oct. 25 | at Wake Forest |
Nov. 1 | Miami (FL) |
Nov. 8 | at Boston College |
Nov. 15 | BYE |
Nov. 22 | Louisville |
Nov. 29 | at Cal |
In-state matchups highlight SMU's nonconference schedule, big tests await in ACC
SMU's nonconference schedule features three in-state games, highlighted by matchups with Baylor and TCU with an odd trip to an FCS school in Missouri State sandwiched between.
Baylor and TCU will be interesting early tests for the Mustangs, but the boggest challenges will likely come in ACC play. SMU plays all four of its fellow top-five ACC teams from a year ago in Syracuse, Miami, Clemson, and Louisville. The good news is that three of those game will be played in Dallas and only one of the remaining opponents won more than two ACC games in 2024.
Week 2: Baylor @ SMU
Week 2 brings SMU's first power conference opponent of the season. SMU and Baylor begin a home-and-home series in Dallas with the Mustangs making the return trip to Waco next year. SMU and Baylor last met in 2016, and SMU has lost the last 12 meetings.
A win over the Bears would be yet another sign of progress as SMU continues to build its football program. Talk about an opportunity to set the tone early in the season.
Week 4: SMU @ TCU
SMU crosses the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex to face off against TCU in the final installment of the "Battle for the Iron Skillet." The teams may play again eventually, but it was annoucned in 2023 that the rivalry would go on pause following the 2025 game. That means that the winner of this one has indefinite bragging rights throughout DFW. That should be enough to get both teams up and playing a great game.
Week 8: SMU @ Clemson
Week 8 brings a rematch of the ACC Championship for SMU and Clemson. The Mustangs shook off a poor start and scored 17 fourth-quarter points to force a late tie, only to see their championship hopes slip away as Nolan Hauser drilled a 56-yard kick to clinch the conference title and a playoff berth for Clemson.
SMU still got to play in the Playoff, but that game has to be weighing on the minds of everyone within the SMU program as the 2025 season approaches.
Week 10: Miami (FL) @ SMU
There are plenty of storylines for this one. Not only was Miami a potential ACC Championship opponent for SMU for most of last season, but there are plenty of connections between the programs. SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee was the Hurricanes offensive coordinator before heading to Dallas, and Mustangs quarterback coach D'Eriq King was his quarterback.
There have also been several Miami players who transferred to SMU since Lashlee took the reins, and they and their coach will have some extra motivation running through them when the Hurricanes visit.
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