Why Saturday's showdown with Pitt might be SMU's most important game in nearly 40 years

That title may sound like hyperbole, but it's really not. From 1989 — when SMU returned from the "Death Penalty" handed down by the NCAA — all the way until 2018, the Mustangs couldn't crack the rankings. SMU was one of the worst programs in the country.

In 2019, the SMU Mustangs finally returned to the AP Top 25 for the first time since 1986. Since then, they've been regulars in the rankings, but have never made it higher than number 15. That could change next week with a win against 18th-ranked Pittsburgh. If the Mustangs win (they're currently 7.5-point favorites, according to FanDuel Sportsbook) they'll certainly jump up multiple spots in the rankings, perhaps even to number 13 or 14, which would be their highest ranking since they were number three in 1985, nearly 40 years ago.

SMU is a real College Football Playoff Contendor

The 2024 Mustangs probably don't care about an arbitrary piece of history, but they definitely care about making the 12-team field of the College Football Playoff, which is very plausible as we head into November. A win on Saturday would do wonders for the Mustangs shot at getting into the ACC Championship game, as it would make Pitt winless no more, and leave just three undefeated teams in the conference: SMU, Miami and Clemson.

SMU isn't completely dead in the water with a loss on Saturday, but it would need some serious help from other teams in the ACC to get back into ACC Championship Game contention, which would likely be its only way into the tourney with a second loss.

A BYU win on Saturday could also help the Mustangs ranking next week — SMU's only loss is to the Cougars, and every time BYU wins, that loss starts to look more like SMU competing with one of the best teams in the country than anything else. If BYU dispatches Utah and SMU beats Pitt, look for this SMU team to leap in the rankings — maybe higher than it has been in a long, long time.