Introducing the ACC: SMU Mustangs

SMU has produced two of the best running backs in history -- Doak Walker and Eric Dickerson

Former SMU running back Eric Dickerson while with the Rams / Peter Brouillet-USA TODAY Sports

After more than a century as a member of the Pac-12 Conference, Cal has moved into the Atlantic Coast Conference. To introduce Cal fans to the Bears’ new conference rivals, we will profile each of the other ACC schools.  Today we introduce you to SMU, one of the three teams that joined the ACC this year, along with Cal and Stanford:

SMU (SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY)

NICKNAME: Mustangs

MASCOT: Human Peruna (person inside a horse costume) and Peruna (live pony present on the sidelines, named after an early 20th-century medicine that supposedly supplied a “kick”)

LOCATION: Dallas, Texas (population 1.3 million)

MILES FROM BERKELEY: 1,461 miles

MAJOR AIRPORT: Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport or Dallas Love Airport. The latter is closer to SMU but is smaller

YEAR FOUNDED: 1911

ENROLLMENT: 7,100 undergraduates

TUITION: $61,980 (tuition and fees)

CAMPUS LANDMARK: George W. Bush Presidential Center

MOST POPULAR SPORTS BARS/RESTAURANTS: Barley House; Chelsea Corner; Milo Butterfingers; Slatter’s 50/50; Katy Trail Ice Huse

FAMOUS NON-ATHLETE ALUMNI: Former First Lady Laura Bush ’68; Academy Award winning actress Kathy Bates ’69; principal founder of American Football League, Major League Soccer and Kansas City Chiefs Lamar Hunt ’56; Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay ’82; TV and movie producer Aaron Spelling ’49. (Actress Jayne Mansfield attended SMU but did not graduate)

ATHLETIC WEBSITE: smumustangs.com

Doak Walker, a Heisman Trophy winner from SMU / Detroit Free Press

FOOTBALL  

COACH: Rhett Lashlee (18-9, 3rd season)

STADIUM: Gerald G. Ford Stadium (32,000 capacity)

CAL ON THE SCHEDULE: Saturday, November 30, 2024 in Dallas

2023 RECORD: 11-3, 8-0/tied for first American Athletic Conference, beat Tulane 26-14 in AAC championship game

BEST PLAYER ON 2024 TEAM: Junior tight end RJ Maryland (2023 first-team all-AAC after having 34 receptions for 518 yards and 7 touchdowns last season)

MOST RECENT BOWL APPEARANCE: 2023 (Lost to Boston College 23-14 in Fenway Bowl)

BOWL HISTORY: 19 appearances (7-11-1)

MOST RECENT CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP: 2003 Big East Conference (tied for first place with West Virginia)

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: 3* (1935, 1981, 1982, *none of the three was a consensus national championship, but SMU was named national champion by at least one reputable organization each time)

BEST ALL-TIME NFL PLAYER: College and Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Doak Walker (Heisman Trophy winner in 1948, when he rushed for 532 yards, passed for 304 yards and 6 TDs, caught 15 passes for 3 TDs, intercepted 3 passes, punted for an average of 42.1 yards, did the place-kicking; first-team All-Pro in four of his six NFL seasons 1950-1955)

ALSO: Eric Dickerson (Consensus first-team All-American 1982; Pro Football Hall of Fame; 5-time first-team All-Pro in 11 NFL seasons 1983-1993; led NFL in rushing 4 times; NFL single-season rushing record 2,105 yards in 1984)

BEST ALL-TIME COACH: Madison Bell (79-40 in 12 seasons 1935-1949; 3 times ranked in final top 20; named national champion by several outlets in 1935, when SMU played in the Rose Bowl and lost to Stanford 7-0; played in Cotton Bowl in 1947 and 1948)

ALSO: Bobby Collins (43-14-1 in 5 seasons 1982-1986; three times ranked in final AP top 15, including No. 2 in 1982; SMU was given the death penalty in 1987 for repeated recruiting violations that occurred under Collins’ watch)

ALL-TIME RECORD VS. CAL (most recent meeting): 1-0 (SMU beat Cal 13-6 in 1957 in Berkeley

First-year SMU coach Andy Enfield / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

MEN’S BASKETBALL 

COACH: Andy Enfield (entering 1st season at SMU; 220-147 in 11 years at USC)

ARENA: Moody Coliseum (capacity 7,000)

2023-24 RECORD: 20-13, 11-7/tied fifth in American Athletic Conference

BEST PLAYER NEXT SEASON: Junior guard Kevin Miller (averaged 15.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, shot 36.9% on 3-pointers for Wake Forest in 2023-24 before transferring to SMU)

MOST RECENT NCAA TOURNAMENT APPEARANCE: 2017 (lost to USC 66-65 in first round)

MOST RECENT CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP: 2017 American Athletic Conference champion

NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY: 12 appearances (10-14), 1 Final Four (1956, lost to San Francisco 86-68 in national semifinals)

BEST ALL-TIME PLAYER: Jim Krebs (1957 AP second-team All-American; three-time all-Southwest Conference 1955-1957; led SMU to the NCAA tournament semifinals in 1956, losing to eventual champion San Francisco; pictured on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1957; averaged 21.5 points over three-year SMU career; No. 3 overall pick in 1957 NBA draft; played 7 NBA season, and his season was 1961-62 when he averaged 10.0 points)

BEST ALL-TIME COACH: Doc Hayes (298-191 in 20 seasons 1947-1967; 8 conference championships, 7 NCAA tournament berths; 1956 NCAA Final Four; 2 final top-10 rankings -- No. 7 in 1956, No. 4 in 1957

ALL-TIME RECORD VS.CAL (most recent meeting): 2-1 (SMU beat Cal 67-65 in an NIT quarterfinal game in 2014)

Southern Methodist Mustangs guard Keena Mays / David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL 

COACH: Toyelle Wilson (45-44, 3 years)

ARENA: Moody Coliseum (capacity 7,000)

2023-24 RECORD: 14-16, 8-10/11th place in ACC

BEST PLAYER NEXT SEASON: Junior guard Nya Robertson (third-team all-Atlantic-10 while at George Washington in 2023-24 when she averaged 16.2 points, had two 30-point games, and made 70 three-point shots)

MOST RECENT NCAA TOURNAMENT APPEARANCE: 2008 (lost to Notre Dame 75-62 in the first round)

MOST RECENT CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP: 2013 (regular season Conference-USA champion)

NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY: 7 NCAA tournament appearances (3-7); 1 Elite Eight (2023)

BEST ALL-TIME PLAYER: Keena Mays (2013 Conference-USA player of the year; 2014 first-team All-American Athletic Conference, when she averaged 21.6 points, tops in the AAC that year and a single-season SMU record; led AAC in three-point percentage in 2013-14 at 39.6%)

BEST ALL-TIME COACH: Rhonda Rompola (439-318 in 25 seasons, 1991-2016; 7 NCAA tournament appearances; 3 regular season conference championships – 2000 WAC, 2009 C-USA, 2013 C-USA)

ALL-TIME RECORD VS. CAL (most recent meeting): 3-0 (SMU won 70-56 on December 4, 2022, in Berkeley)

MISCELLANEOUS

VARSITY SPORTS (16): Football, men's and women's basketball, men's and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s swimming and diving, women’s volleyball, women’s rowing, women’s track and field, women’s cross country, women’s equestrian

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS (10): Football (1935 named national champ by four major selectors, 1981 by one major selector, 1982 by one major selector); Men’s track & field (1983 outdoor, 1983 indoor, 1986 outdoor, program discontinued in 2004); Men’s golf (1954); Women’s golf (1979); Women’s equestrian (2023, 2024)

ALSO: SMU’s Cheer and Pom squad has won 7 national championships

BEST ALL-TIME NON-FOOTBALL/BASKETBALL ATHLETE: Golfer Payne Stewart (winner of 3 major championships – 1989 PGA Championship, 1991 U.S. Open, 1999 U.S. Open; member of World Golf Hall of Fame; Stewart died in a plane crash a few months after winning the 1999 U.S. Open)

MOST FAMOUS OLYMPIAN: Swimmer Lars Frolander (medal winner in three Olympics Games for Sweden – gold in 100-meter butterfly in 2000, silver in 4x200 freestyle relay in 1992, silver in 4x200 freestyle relay in 1996)

ALSO: Gymnast Nastia Liukin, attended SMU but graduated from NYU (5 Olympic medals in 2008, including the all-around gold)

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