SMU has legit chance to be Group of 5 rep on New Year’s Day
SMU survived to remain unbeaten Thursday night, and it’s still all ahead of them in regard to being the Group of 5 rep on New Year’s Day.
On Thursday night, the SMU Mustangs became the first team in the country to reach 8-0 with a 34-31 win over Houston on the road. It’s the program’s best start since an 11-0-1 campaign in 1982, at the peak of the “Pony Express” days, and at No. 16 in the country this week they are in the top-25 for the first time since the NCAA gave the program the “death penalty” in 1987.
It’s been a long road back for the program, with the sixth-most losses in FBS over the last 30 years (the football program returned in 1989). This season’s eight wins have already matched the program’s most wins post-death penalty, matching 2009 and 2011.
The Mustangs currently leads the AAC by themselves with a 4-0 mark in conference play. Next Saturday’s game on the road against Memphis (2-1 in AAC play right now) will be a test, as will a road trip to take on Navy (3-1 in AAC play right now) on Nov. 23. So a month from now we could be talking about a great start that has faded to being in line for a late-December bowl game. Or SMU could be 11-0 heading into what may be a tough regular season finale against currently 5-2 Tulane, with their sights on a big goal.
The usual suspects out of the Group of 5 in play for the New Year’s Day bowl bid that goes to the best team in those conferences, UCF and Boise State, have lost twice and once respectively so far this season. In particular, Boise State’s loss to BYU last week has opened the door for someone else to take that spot.
If the Mustangs win out, and maybe even have a better lone loss than Boise State (Memphis, Navy or even Tulane has a chance to qualify), they will have a case for that New Year’s Six bowl bid. It just happens the Goodyear Cotton Bowl will bring in the top team from the Group of 5 on Jan. 1, so SMU could be on a big stage right in their backyard.
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SMU’s 8-0 start, as head coach Sonny Dykes has quickly reloaded the roster with transfers, is one of the most surprising things in college football this year. But they control much of their own fate in regard to something far bigger, and Thursday’s game may stand as the test of their mettle that was needed ahead of a final push to earning that marquee bowl bid.