SMU Basketball And Football Has Risen From The Ashes

A lack of institutional control which included paying players on its football team led to SMU losing its football program in 1987 and 1988. When the death penalty was handed down by the NCAA to SMU, it not only hurt their football program, but it also signaled the beginning of the end for the Southwest Conference as they lost valuable television revenue. The Southwest Conference ultimately closed their doors for good in 1996.

From 1985-2008, SMU did not participate in a bowl game as they only enjoyed three winning seasons over that time. Things changed for SMU in 2008 when June Jones was hired as their head football coach. By 2009, Jones had led SMU to a record of 8-5 which included a victory in the Hawaii Bowl. The 2013 college football season marked the first season since 2008 the SMU did not play in a bowl game, but brighter days do appear to be on the horizon in football for the school known as the Mustangs.

1993 marked the last year in which SMU’s basketball program made the NCAA Tournament and they have not won a tournament game since 1988. The Mustang basketball program has become a bottom feeder in such conferences as the SWC, Western Athletic Conference, and Conference USA as from 1994-2013 they only had two 20-win seasons. Then in 2013 the nomad known as Larry Brown was hired as the head coach to revive SMU’s basketball program. The much traveled Brown has called multiple NBA cities and college campuses his home as he led the Detroit Pistons to an NBA Championship and the University of Kansas to a national title which have been just two of the stops on his long and celebrated career.

In Brown’s first season in Dallas, SMU went 15-17, but they were able to increase their win total from the previous season. Now SMU has a record of 20-5 this season and they appear to be on their way to their first NCAA Tournament berth since 1993. Last Saturday the Mustangs welcomed the Cincinnati Bearcats to the Moody Coliseum in Dallas. The Bearcats rolled into North Texas on a 15-game winning streak that also saw them ranked 7th nationally in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches Polls. The Mustangs never allowed the Bearcats a chance to breath as they smothered them 76-55 for their first victory over a ranked opponent in 29 years. The victory by SMU has also catapulted them to their first appearance in the top 25 of the AP Poll since 1985 as they are currently ranked 23rd.

For SMU athletics it was clear as day that they had to get back to basics. In the attempts to become competitive in the SWC for football, SMU threw caution to the wind and they got caught with their pants down. Once the NCAA dropped the hammer on SMU’s football program, they disassociated themselves with players from that era such as running backs Eric Dickerson and Craig James. In the early 1980’s Dickerson and James formed the starting backfield for SMU known as “The Pony Express” as the Mustangs rose to national prominence. Dickerson and James would go on to have careers in the National Football League with Dickerson going on to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The players from that era at SMU were basically omitted from the record books, but once Jones came on board as the head coach in 2008 he and the powers to be at SMU brought back some of the former players from that time to once again become affiliated with the football program. The state of Texas has always been a fertile recruiting spot for college football. Schools such as the University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma will always be able to peg the top-tier talent from the Lone Star State, but that doesn’t mean that schools like SMU cannot give a maximum effort for recruiting and ultimately winning. 

Success on the field also leads to building a football program and getting better recruits. SMU football has produced 12 players that were on National Football League rosters in 2013 which can go a long way in getting talent as players always want the opportunity to get to the next level.

During his illustrious coaching career Brown has been known as a miracle worker as he has led eight different NBA teams to the playoffs; mainly taking over teams that were in the pits of futility. Throughout his coaching career Brown has turned water into wine as he has primarily done it with players that were afterthoughts. SMU’s basketball program has never been known as a hot bed for basketball and the artist known as Brown came to Dallas with an empty canvas.

No player on SMU’s current basketball roster was highly recruited coming out of high school which fits right into Brown’s philosophy. Only guard Nic Moore and forward Markus Kennedy are averaging double figures in points on the Mustangs basketball team. SMU is currently not highly ranked in points per game (73.0), rebounds (37.4), and assists (15.4), but they are 7th in nation in field goal percentage (.495). Only three SMU opponents have scored over 70 points this season as defense has always been a trademark of Brown’s teams.

With SMU in the Metroplex, the sky could be the limit as the Dallas-Fort Worth area is one of the bigger media markets in the country. What you are currently looking at in SMU is a sleeping giant in both basketball and football. When SMU’s basketball team has their name called on Selection Sunday for the NCAA Tournament next month, Brown can more than likely run for mayor of Dallas. But he will need to make some room for Jones as both of them are becoming as popular in Dallas as oil and J.R. Ewing.

Source: Sports-reference.com