Safeway Bowl
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SMU 66, North Texas State Normal 0
SMU 45, North Texas 21
| Sport | Football |
|---|---|
| First meeting | October 7, 1922 SMU 66, North Texas State Normal 0 |
| Latest meeting | November 10, 2023 SMU 45, North Texas 21 |
| Statistics | |
| Meetings total | 43 |
| All-time series | SMU leads 36–6–1 (.849)[1] |
| Largest victory | SMU, 68–0 (1927) |
| Longest win streak | SMU, 11 (1934–1976) |
| Current win streak | SMU, 5 (2019–present) |
The Safeway Bowl is the name given to the North Texas–SMU football rivalry.[2] It is a college football rivalry game between the Southern Methodist University Mustangs football team and the University of North Texas Mean Green football team. The two universities are in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex.[3]
The two teams first met in 1922, with a 66–0 win for SMU over North Texas. The match-up has geographic relevance, as North Texas and SMU are the largest public and private universities in the DFW area respectively. As bitter cross-Metroplex rivals, the two teams have met 41 times in total.
Its name is derived from a challenge from former UNT head coach Matt Simon, who after a two year break in the series, stated "I'd like to play because I think we could beat them, and my players feel the same way. If they'd like to play on a Safeway parking lot ... just give us a date and time."[4]
SMU leads the series 36–6–1, as the series had three major hiatuses since its original start. The series has been ongoing since its renewal in 2013, and was expected to continue as North Texas joined the American Athletic Conference in 2023, which SMU has previously been a member of.[5] However, on September 1, 2023, it was announced that SMU would be joining the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2024.[6]