SMU

2-0AP #16
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ACC · Rhett Lashlee, year 5 (40-16) · Gerald J. Ford Stadium · 32,000 · 29,054 avg in 2026

The nationAP #16 · Coaches #16up 1 from last week
The model#12 CFB ZeitgeistSP+ #31 (+11.1) · FPI #24
The marketLouisville by 1.5at Louisville · our model 65% SMU · a number, not a pick

LastW 56–10 vs UC Davis · Sat Sep 12 · Kevin Jennings 337 pass yds, 5 TD, 5 rush yds

Nextat Louisville · Sat Sep 19 · 3:30 pm ET · L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium · Louisville by 1.5 · series 4-0, won the last 4 · Game preview

Updated Tue Sep 15 · through week 2

Zeitgeist statureNational Program I#61 all-time– holding
one line from Power Program III
The era · 2014 through 2025

The CFP Era

12 seasons inside the CFP era, no bids yet — the era the program is still trying to break into.

Era record 83-67 12 seasons
Best season 11-3 2024
TRAJECTORY · quality-score line · AP rank dotted · CFP bids marked · coach regimes ribboned
Program Quality AP Rank (inverted) CFP Appearance
'14'16'18'20'22'24NOW
CHAPTERS · 12 seasons · tap to open the archive
'14 1-11 '15 2-10 '16 5-7 '17 7-6 '18 5-7 '19 10-3 '20 7-3 '21 8-4 '22 7-6 '23 11-3 '24 11-3 '25 9-4

SMU's 2014–2025 record is 83-67. The era is still being written; the CFP line is the one the program is arguing for.

Era win %
.553
Ranked seasons (AP)
6/12
Best AP finish
#12

Program outlook

The NCAA shut SMU down entirely in 1987 — the only full-season death penalty in college football history. Thirty-seven years later, the Mustangs made the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff in their first ACC season. The comeback is complete. Now they have to prove it stays.

Read the full essay — 3 more paragraphs

Eric Dickerson and Craig James ran out of Dallas in the early 1980s as one of the most celebrated backfields in the sport — Pony Express, Southwest Conference titles, an 11-0-1 in 1982. The pay-for-play scandal that followed cost the program its entire 1987 season and left it in a wilderness that lasted a generation. The scar is part of the SMU story, not the whole story anymore: Rhett Lashlee and the program he inherited from Sonny Dykes finished the comeback by earning the at-large spot in the inaugural 12-team Playoff, losing 38-10 at Penn State in the first round, and proving that a program executed by the NCAA can climb back to the sport's biggest stage.

The 2025 season went 9-4 (6-2 ACC), with a 24-19 Holiday Bowl win over Arizona — a legitimate result, a real step, and not enough for a Playoff bid. The internal fracture is moving from gratitude to expectation: the faction grateful just to be back has been joined by a faction that, having seen the Playoff once, now demands the Mustangs win the ACC and go back. Dallas money and a recruiting-rich city make the demand feel plausible. The question is whether the program has the infrastructure to meet it sustainably.

What 2026 will answer is whether SMU can win the ACC outright — not just make the conference title game on a field goal, not just earn a bubble Playoff spot, but actually claim the league. The 2024 near-miss against Clemson on the final play is the measuring stick. The resurrection is complete. What comes next is harder.

On the field

Fast, aggressive, and Air-Raid-descended — Lashlee's system is built around spreading the field and attacking verticals with tempo, the Dallas-swagger offensive identity that suits a program selling itself to Texas recruits on NIL and facilities. Gerald J. Ford Stadium is modern and well-resourced; the recruiting base in the Dallas-Fort Worth corridor is among the best in the country. The Mustangs play to outscore opponents with a professional-style passing attack, backed by boosters who have learned to operate within the rules.

program outlook · as of 2026-06-14

All-time record · SMU

SMU has won 47% of its games since 1915 — 57% at home, 36% on the road.

556-570-54 all-time · 110 seasons · 1915–2026

Home 351-244-26
Away 197-316-27
Neutral 8-10-1
31% 1910s
60% 1920s
58% 1930s
53% 1940s
47% 1950s
34% 1960s
44% 1970s
68% 1980s
28% 1990s
29% 2000s
45% 2010s
71% 2020s

Coaching Era · SMU

Rhett Lashlee

Rhett Lashlee has held the program for 5 seasons — the era is established.

Era Rhett Lashlee · 2022–presentPrev: Jim Leavitt (2021)OC: co-Garin Justice / co-Rob LikensPrev OC: Casey Woods / co-Garin Justice / co-Rob Likens (2024–2025)DC: co-Maurice Crum Jr. / co-Rickey Hunley Jr.Prev DC: co-Maurice Crum Jr. / Scott Symons / co-Rickey Hunley Jr. (2024–2025)
The full CFP-era story →The full coaching lineage →
5 years · era

Program memory

What this program never forgets

Most weeks vanish. These didn’t.

1987

The death penalty

The NCAA cancels SMU's entire 1987 season for repeated pay-for-play violations; the program voluntarily sits out 1988 too — the only full shutdown in the sport's history

Wound

2024

ACC arrival and the Playoff

In its first ACC season SMU goes 11-3, loses the ACC title game to Clemson on a last-second field goal, and earns the final at-large spot in the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff

2024 Playoff first round

Seeded 11th, SMU loses 38-10 at Penn State — the comeback reaches the sport's biggest stage, then runs into a blue blood

Heartbreak

Moment of the season — so far · SMU · 2026

Won 56-10 vs UC Davis

Week 2 of 2026. A statement margin. Recruiting boards re-rendered overnight.

Decisive Margin

NFL Draft Pipeline

2022–2026

SMU has sent 6 players to the NFL Draft since 2022 — none in the first round.

Developing. Pipeline emerging.

6 picks · 0 in round 1
#55 Rashee Rice Wide Receiver · 2023 · Kansas City · #3/488 final season
#105 Danny Gray Wide Receiver · 2022 · San Francisco · #65/468 final season
#133 Matthew Hibner Tight End · 2026 · Baltimore · #27/156 final season
Succeeded by Miles Uter · 3★
#64 all-time · 7 first-round picksthe talent factory →

More in this tab

Program factsStadium, mascot, and the vitals that don't change season to season.
Program résumé
1CFP apps
Ladder finishHow far up the ladder this season got.

Season standing · 2026 · 2-0 · AP #16

SMU is ranked 16th (AP) at 2-0.

Ranked in the AP/Coaches polls, 16-25. National relevance achieved.

Sub-FBSBuildingBowlRankedContenderPlayoff
ConferenceWhere this team sits in this season's conference standings.

ACC standing · 2026

3rd in the ACC

SMU is 3rd in the ACC at 1-0. 2 teams above — that's the direct path to the title game.

#ProgramRecord
1California1-0
2Miami1-0
3SMU1-0
4Virginia1-0
–Boston College0-0
–Clemson0-0
–Duke0-0
–Georgia Tech0-0
–Louisville0-0
–North Carolina0-0
–Pittsburgh0-0
–Virginia Tech0-0
–Wake Forest0-0
14Florida State0-1
15NC State0-1
16Stanford0-1
17Syracuse0-1
Coaching historyEvery hire and departure on record, not just the current era.

Coaching history

  • Hired Rhett Lashlee2022
  • Sonny Dykes departs30-17, 4 seasons
  • Jim Leavitt departs0-0, 1 season
  • Hired Jim Leavitt2021
  • Hired Sonny Dykes2018
  • Chad Morris departs14-23, 3 seasons
  • Hired Chad Morris2015
  • June Jones departs36-43, 7 seasons
Coordinator lineageOffense and defense under each coordinator.

Unit lineage

SMU’s offense and defense, by coordinator

FBS-relative efficiency percentile per season (2014–2026), same population as the Coordinator Mirror board. Dashed vertical lines mark a coordinator change.

Offense2014–2026
2014201620182020202220242026
2014 · co-Dan Morrison / co-Jason Phillips2015–2017 · Joe Craddock2018–2019 · Rhett Lashlee2020–2021 · co-A. J. Ricker / co-Garrett Riley2022 · Casey Woods2023 · Casey Woods / co-Jonathan Brewer / co-Rob Likens2024–2025 · Casey Woods / co-Garin Justice / co-Rob Likens2026 · co-Garin Justice / co-Rob Likens
Defense2014–2026
2014201620182020202220242026
2014 · Tom Mason2015–2017 · Van Malone2018–2020 · Kevin Kane2021 · Jim Leavitt2022–2023 · Scott Symons2024–2025 · co-Maurice Crum Jr. / Scott Symons / co-Rickey Hunley Jr.2026 · co-Maurice Crum Jr. / co-Rickey Hunley Jr.
Elite (≥70th pct)AveragePoor (≤30th pct)
Gameday customsThe gameday customs unique to this program.

Rituals

Three gameday rituals — the ones outsiders never quite catch.

Pony Express Era (1979-1982)

since 1979

more

Eric Dickerson + Craig James as 'Pony Express' — the era that produced two future Hall of Famers, an 11-0-1 season in 1982, and the recruiting violations that triggered the NCAA death penalty in 1987. The death penalty (no football in 1987, voluntary cancellation in 1988) is the only one ever issued in CFB.

ACC Entry 2024

since 2024

more

The 2024 ACC entry from American Athletic, plus 11-3 + CFP appearance + Rhett Lashlee's hire — three structural resets in one cycle. The decade-long rebuild from 1987 death penalty to 2024 P5 + CFP is the defining institutional comeback arc in CFB.

Pony Ears

since 1920s

more

The 'Pony Ears' hand sign — two fingers extended above the head like horse ears — is the universal Mustang fan identity gesture. Used in tailgates, photographed at every recruit visit, raised after touchdowns. The simplest hand sign in CFB.

Cultural identityWhat college football loses if this program didn't exist.
BowlsEvery bowl this program's played, and how it did.

Bowl / Postseason Ledger

Recent postseason (2017-2025): 1-5

Most recent: 2025 — win 24-19 (home). Last 5 postseason: 1-4.

20252024202320222019
Reddit blowupsThe plays that blew up on r/CFB.

r/cfb moments

1.3k
[Postgame Thread] UCF Defeats SMU 41-19
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1.3k
[Postgame Thread] SMU Defeats TCU 41-38
Sep 2019 · r/cfb
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[Postgame Thread] SMU Defeats TCU 42-34
Sep 2021 · r/cfb
764
[Postgame Thread] TCU Defeats SMU 35-24
Sep 2025 · r/cfb
550
[Postgame Thread] BYU Defeats SMU 24-23
Dec 2022 · r/cfb

All-time top community posts · ranked by upvotes

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