Mustangs Add to Growing List of National Publication Honors in ACC

One of publication leaders you'll see has ton of respect with more proof Ponies not planning to slip into new conference

SMU Mustangs offensive guard Justin Osborne named to ACC first team by Phil Steele Preseason Magazine. / SMU Mustangs Communications

DALLAS — That sound some folks in the ACC are hearing these days may be SMU getting really close. The Mustangs will be in their new league in less than three weeks and this week more players picked up recognition from a national publication ... and this is a big one.

You see it on shelves and in stores all time and it's daunting in size, but Phil Stee's 2024 magazine is out now and the Mustangs continued their pace of getting high projections from national media. It's the highest now than they've gotten total over the last 40 years.

Rhett Lashlee has put together a pretty solid roster for the entry into the ACC and seven players were named to Steele's team. That's usually a pretty reliable read because probably no other publication on college football goes as deep into the analytics as Steele on every team in college football and SMU's talent got his attention.

Seven players named to the Phil Steele 2024 Preseason All-ACC Teams, the publication announced on Tuesday. Senior offensive guard Justin Osborne was named to the first team. That's important. To have the success, coach Rhett Lashlee wants to get this year he's got to have the guys up front, which is the maybe the most important part of any offense.

The Mustangs' junior tight end RJ Maryland (third team), grad transfer linebacker Kobe Wilson (third team), senior wide receiver Roderick Daniels Jr. (fourth team), redshirt junior linebacker Isaiah Nwokobia (fourth team), Logan Parr (fourth team) and Elijah Roberts (fourth team) also received the preseason honors.

Osborne is a "Super Senior" from Flower Mound playing his fifth season. That's due to the bonus year because of the pandemic in 2020 and it could be a big foundation in that offensive line.

On offense, SMU had four selected to the teams, highlighted by Osborne's first-team selection. The Mustangs return a lot of firepower from an offense that was one of the best in program history in 2023, resulting in the first conference championship since 1984.

The defense notched three selections with Wilson being the highest, making the third team. The Snellville, Ga. native led SMU in tackles last season with 80 and helped lead an SMU defense that was one of three FBS teams to rank in the top 12 in the country in sacks (third), scoring defense (11th) and total defense (12th).

SMU has already set a new season-ticket sales record for Ford Stadium, with sales up more than 60%, and tickets for men's and women's basketball are also selling at record rates.

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