Here come the SMU Mustangs
Southern Methodist University was once a powerful name in college sports. Back in the days of Eric Dickerson and Craig James in the early 1980’s, the Mustangs were one of the best football programs in the country. Meanwhile, on the hardwood, SMU made three trips to the NCAA Tournaments in the decade, winning the first-round matchup each time.
Unfortunately, things have fallen on tough times for the Mustangs in both sports over the past 25 years. SMU had the death penalty imposed on its football program, recently made famous again by ESPN’s excellent 30 for 30 documentary, Pony Excess. SMU has never recovered on the football field, and the basketball team has not been much better. The Mustangs have not made the NCAA Tournament since 1993, when they were ousted in the first round by Brigham Young University. The program only has one Final Four appearance to its name, coming in 1956.
However, things are looking up for SMU’s basketball team (the football team has a long, long way to go). Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown showed up in 2012 and guided the Mustangs to a 15-17 record in his first season, before amassing a 27-10 campaign in 2013-14. Last year, SMU finished as the NIT runner-up. Brown is the perfect man for this resurrection, having titles in both college with the Kansas Jayhawks in 1988 and the NBA with the Detroit Pistons in 2004. In his seven collegiate seasons with the UCLA Bruins and Kansas, Brown never missed out on March Madness.
This season, it appears the Mustangs might just break their NCAA Tournament drought. Ranked 22nd in the Associated Press poll, SMU is sporting a 18-4 record, including a 9-1 mark in the American Athletic Conference. On Thursday night, the Mustangs will host the Cincinnati Bearcats, the only team to have beaten them in-conference. SMU enters as a six-point favorite.
The Mustangs are without a signature win in the 2014-15 season, but have been dominating lesser competition. Over its current eight-game win streak, SMU has won seven games by at least nine points, with the lone exception being a five-point win over the Temple Owls. Defense is the main calling card for the Mustangs, allowing only 58.8 points per game, good enough for 21st in the nation.
Junior guard Nic Moore paces SMU with 14.5 points and 5.4 assists/game, while Yanick Moreira and Markus Kennedy patrol the interior. The duo is combining for 23.4 points and 12.2 rebounds/game. Moreira is a senior but Kennedy is a junior. Along with sophomore guard Keith Frazier, the Mustangs have ample hope of being even better in 2016.
Should SMU continue its winning ways and play in the NCAA Tournament, Brown could be the wild card. Few teams have such a prestigious coach who can find the mismatches on the floor. The Mustangs are not a good bet to win it all, but the Sweet 16 is certainly attainable.
