Mustang football plays for Mayor’s cup

This Saturday afternoon SMU will face its rival Rice University for the seventh time since the implementation of the Mayor’s Cup.

What’s the Mayor’s Cup? Much like the Iron Skillet, presented to the winner of the SMU versus TCU game, the Mayor’s Cup is a relatively new tradition started in 1996 as a joint venture between Houston’s Mayor Lee Brown and Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk.

The two mayors made a friendly wager concerning the outcome of each season’s football game between Rice and SMU. This friendly challenge started a tradition now referred to as the Mayor’s Cup.

At each Cup, the winner from the previous year is responsible for bringing the trophy to the game. When the game is over, the winner of the game will be presented the trophy and hold it until the following year’s match up.

The SMU-Rice series is the second longest running series in SMU history. The series dates 1916, when the Owls beat the Ponies 146-3. The only rivalry longer than SMU versus Rice is the one between SMU and TCU which started in 1915 (the same year SMU’s football team was established).

“Being from Houston and going to school in Dallas, it’s always nice to pull off a victory and keep the Mayor’s Cup,” said SMU junior linebacker and Houston native Brian Bischoff. “Beating Rice always gives me bragging rights and a sense of pride when I go home.”

Since the Mayor’s Cup was established, the hosting team has always won the game and kept the trophy at home. The last time SMU won a game in Houston against Rice was in 1986, 10 years prior to the Mayor’s Cup.

After last week’s breakout game against last year’s WAC champions Louisiana Tech, the Mustangs are hoping to break the 17-year losing streak in Houston.

“Louisiana Tech was a great win, and we finally put together what was needed to win. We need to take this momentum into Houston and keep the Mayor’s Cup in Dallas,” senior tight end John Hampton said. “This will be my fourth year playing them, but I still haven’t won in Houston.”

SMU leads the all-time series with Rice by a 44-34-1 count. A victory this weekend will be the first road victory of the season for the Mustangs and put their record at 2-7 for the season and 2-3 in the WAC. Along with the players, a victory this weekend would be the first road win for SMU’s head coach Phil Bennett.

“This is a rivalry that goes back to the Southwest Conference. After last week’s victory, it is huge for us to go into Houston, play well, keep the trophy, and be the first SMU team to beat Rice at home since 1986,” Bennett said.

Mustang football plays for Mayor’s cup