SMU In the Driver’s Seat for Improbable ACC Title

I would like to remind folks of a few simple facts. The S.M.U Mustangs control the A.C.C right now. How they got here and how it’s going is quite a crazy tale. It started back in 1979. Eric Dickerson decided to take his talents to Southern Methodist University.

The Mustangs were competing in the old Southwest Conference and were considered a top-tier program. The Mustangs also inked another blue-chip running back, Craig James, and the Pony Express was born. The only fly in the ointment was a little bit of pay-to-play. You see this was before the NIL and the N.C.A.A still had teeth. They dropped a nuke, and the Mustangs fell victim to the “death penalty”.

The football program was decimated, and the Mustangs were relegated to obscurity. Fast forward to 1996 when SMU joined the WAC. They then joined C-USA for 7 years, finally landing in the American conference in 2013. All the while, SMU languished as an afterthought. When the conference games of musical chairs got hot and heavy two years ago, SMU found its dance partner.

Clemson and Florida State were pissed about the television contract. The ACC signed a terrible deal with ESPN and still is trying to leave. After Florida State went undefeated last year and missed the playoff, there have been lawsuits and innuendos. SMU wisely knew it had to be in a “Power 4”. They went above and beyond in selling itself to the ACC.

Do you think your team has fundraising? In ONE WEEK the Mustangs raised over $100 MILLION. They declined to take a share of the crappy A.C.C deal to join a conference that matters (for now). The investment is clear, and head coach Rhett Lashlee currently has the only undefeated team in the Atlantic Coast Conference after Georgia Tech beat Miami on Saturday.