College Football: 25 most underappreciated team rivalries of all time

25. SMU Mustangs vs. TCU Horned Frogs

Lists of historical greats in college football don’t often include the SMU Mustangs and the TCU Horned Frogs.

The latter has certainly enjoyed a great deal of success under Gary Patterson recently, while the former saw some glory years before infamously receiving the NCAA’s death penalty after the 1986 NCAA season. However, this is a historic matchup with a great victory totem and a long-running story of battles between the two schools.

SMU and TCU play annually for the Iron Skillet. While some claim that the trophy’s origins came from SMU fans cooking frog legs at the pre-game festivities to take a shot at TCU’s mascot, others claim that it was simply created as a trophy that should be awarded to the winner of the game between the two programs. In either case, it’s one of the more unique trophies handed out in the sport for a rivalry game.

These two teams have squared off 98 times since their first game against one another back in 1915. Over that time, it’s the Horned Frogs that hold the edge, posting a 51-40-7 record overall, including going 17-2 over the last 19 meetings. Of course, SMU dominated the rivalry before receiving the death penalty that shut down the program winning 15-straight games up until 1986.

In all honesty, the reason this rivalry comes in as underappreciated is the effect that the death penalty had on the Mustangs program. They’ve faced an uphill battle in the 30-plus years since to try to rebuild the program and haven’t been fully competitive as a result. Even still, the history (and great trophy) are undeniable.