Vanderbilt cancels football series with SMU
SMU won’t be headed to face Vanderbilt this fall or in the future as the Commodores canceled the football series with the Mustangs Tuesday night. SMU athletic director Rick Hart confirmed the news on Wednesday.
“Yesterday evening, Vanderbilt formally notified us that they were cancelling our football series,” Hart said in a statement. “We were looking forward to traveling to Nashville this fall and are disappointed for our team and our fans that these games will no longer take place as scheduled.”
The games announced in 2019 that was originally scheduled for 2024 in Nashville, 2028 in Dallas and 2029 in Nashville won’t be happening. The series between the two private schools will include a buyout from Vanderbilt that wasn’t disclosed.
The 2024 affair would’ve been the fifth meeting between Vanderbilt and SMU. The Commodores are 2-2 in the series, which dates to a 16-0 home victory by SMU in 1936. Vanderbilt has notched victories over SMU in both games played on West End — 6-0 in 1937 and 14-11 in 1991.
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Now the Mustangs, which were scheduled to play Power Five opponents in 11 of their 12 games on the 2024 schedule, are looking for a new opponent.
“We are exploring options for the 2024 season and hope to announce an opponent soon,” Hart added.
Scheduling is getting more and more complicated with different schools of thought regarding strength of schedule. On one hand, Florida State went undefeated with a strength of schedule not viewed in the same light as Alabama and Texas, which both made the College Football Playoff. On the other hand, SMU suffered two losses this year to Power Five teams, but was left out of the New Year’s Six bowls when undefeated Liberty landed the invitation.
Hart will look to round out SMU’s 2024 schedule that includes out of conference games against BYU, TCU and Houston Christian. The Mustangs begin their first season in the ACC in 2024 after winning the American Athletic Conference Championship this season.
