TCU to open Big 12 football season as SMU game moved to Friday primetime slot
The Battle for the Iron Skillet will have a Friday Night Lights feel to it this season.
The Big 12 announced kickoff and TV information for upcoming games on Tuesday, and the TCU-SMU game is getting primetime treatment by moving into a Friday night (Sept. 11) slot on Fox Sports 1. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. at Amon G. Carter Stadium.
The game had been scheduled for Saturday Sept. 12. By moving it up a day, TCU will be the conference’s first game of the season. The conference announced that remaining television selections will be announced on a 12-day or six-day basis.
TCU athletic director Jeremiah Donati said both teams agreed to play a day earlier to put the rivalry on a bigger platform.
“We both understood it was an opportunity to showcase the matchup,” Donati said.
For SMU, that means it will be playing the game on a short week. The Mustangs open their season against Texas State at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
TCU coach Gary Patterson pointed to that as an advantage during a conference call on Monday. The Frogs will at least have one game film to breakdown of the Mustangs. SMU, meanwhile, won’t have any tape on the 2020 TCU team.
Patterson compared it to how the Dallas Cowboys handled their scrimmage on Sunday, wearing no numbers on jerseys.
“Nobody can see what they are doing. Our advantage over SMU is they have to play a ballgame and they don’t get to watch us,” Patterson said. “Where we put people and what we do.”
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the TCU-SMU rivalry. TCU leads the all-time series 51-41-7. Patterson is 15-3 in his career against SMU, including last year’s 41-38 loss in Fort Worth.
The two schools have met every season this century except for 2006, although this year’s game was in jeopardy a few weeks when the game was initially canceled in early August. The Big 12 required schools to play a home non-conference game and TCU had already reached a deal with Tennessee Tech.
Tennessee Tech backed out when its conference opted to postpone the season amid the coronavirus pandemic, opening the door for the game to resume — in Fort Worth instead of Dallas.
SMU will play three straight seasons in Fort Worth (2019, 2020 and 2021). The 2022 game will be in Dallas. The last time a team played consecutive seasons on the road was TCU at SMU in 2000 and 2001.
Big 12’s opening week
Here’s a look at the entire Big 12 slate for its opening weekend. A few select future games have also been finalized.
Friday, Sept. 11: SMU at TCU (FS1), 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 12: Louisiana Tech at Baylor (FOX), 11:00 a.m.
Saturday, Sept. 12: Louisiana at Iowa State (ESPN), 11:00 a.m.
Saturday, Sept. 12: Eastern Kentucky at West Virginia (FS1), 11:00 a.m.
Saturday, Sept. 12: Arkansas State at Kansas State (FS1), 2:30 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 12: Missouri State at Oklahoma (PPV), 6:00 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 12: Tulsa at Oklahoma State (ESPN/ESPNU), 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 12: UTEP at Texas (LHN), 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 12: Coastal Carolina at Kansas (FS1), 9:00 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 12: Houston Baptist at Texas Tech (Big 12 Now on ESPN+), 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 26: Kansas State at Oklahoma (FOX), 11:00 a.m.
Saturday, Sept. 26: Texas at Texas Tech (FOX), 2:30 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 10: Texas vs. Oklahoma (FOX), 11:00 a.m.
Friday, Nov. 27: Iowa State at Texas (ABC/ESPN Network), TBD
Saturday, Dec. 12: Dr Pepper Big 12 Championship (ABC/ESPN Network), TBD*
* Big 12 championship game could be moved to Dec. 19.
This story was originally published September 1, 2020 at 11:00 AM.
