SMU is added to Baylor’s schedule for 2025 and 2026.
A home-and-home agreement between the Baylor Bears and the SMU Mustangs has been signed for the 2025 and 2026 campaigns. On September 6, 2025, Baylor and coach Dave Aranda will visit Gerald J. Ford Stadium in Dallas. On September 19, 2026, Baylor will play host to coach Rhett Lashlee and the Mustangs at McLane Stadium in Waco, Texas.
Since the Mustangs joined the Atlantic Coast Conference this season, Baylor’s schedule of 11 Power Four teams in back-to-back years is set in stone.
In addition, Baylor and the Auburn Tigers will play a home-and-home series in 2025 and 2026. A nine-game conference schedule is followed by all Big12 Conference teams.
Given that Baylor’s schedules for 2025 and 2026 still have an open date, it’s likely that an FCS or Group of 5 school will be added. In neither of those two years, there is a very slim chance that Baylor will schedule a 12th Power Four school.
In 2025, Arizona, Arizona State, Cincinnati, Central Florida, Houston, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, TCU, and Utah will be Baylor’s league rivals.
As previously mentioned, SMU will play eight conference games this season as they enter the ACC, and the Mustangs will play at least ten Power Four matchups by 2025. SMU goes to Fort Worth for their yearly matchup with rival TCU in addition to the Baylor game. Sadly, that series comes to an end with the 2025 game.
Boston College, California, Clemson, Louisville, Miami, Stanford, Syracuse, and Wake Forest are SMU’s conference rivals in 2025.
There is still space for more Power Four opponents in the 2026 Mustangs’ out-of-conference schedule, which currently only includes Baylor. It’s also possible that in 2026 the ACC may switch to a nine-game conference schedule. SMU would once more play at least ten Power Four games if that were to occur.
Against SMU, Baylor has a 39-36-7 record; the teams last faced off in 2016. With the 40–13 victory, Baylor’s winning run in the series now stands at 13 games.
Orion Stewart, a safety for Baylor, ended with eight total stops, two interceptions, one of which was recovered for a score, making him the game’s MVP.
In the series, SMU’s longest winning run is eight games. Every year, SMU and Baylor participated in games as Southwest Conference members. But when Texas, Baylor, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech joined the Big 8 Conference to establish the Big 12 in 1995, the SWC was forced to disband.