AAC Sets Schedule for Mustangs' Final League Run

Pace will pick up next year for ACC games, but plenty at Moody this year

DALLAS — Now we have an idea how SMU's last run through the AAC schedule will look and there are plenty of games spread out to keep folks interested for several months. The schedule was finalized earlier this week for an 18-game league schedule. The Mustangs open league play at Moody Coliseum against Charlotte on Jan. 2 and finish at UAB on March 10.

SMU will play five AAC opponents twice: ECU, Memphis, North Texas, Tulane and UAB. The Mustangs will play home games only against Charlotte, Temple, Tulsa and UTSA, and play road games only versus Florida Atlantic, Rice, South Florida and Wichita State. The American Men's Basketball Championship is March 13-17 (Wednesday-Sunday) at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth.

Tip times and television designations will be announced at a later date. This is the final run for the Ponies before making the jump to the ACC next year where they'll be playing some blue bloods of college basketball like North Carolina, Duke and some others.

(SMU Athletics)

The non-conference schedule is highlighted by home games against Dayton and Texas A&M, road match-ups with Arizona State and Florida State plus the Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-Off with West Virginia, Wisconsin and Virginia.

The second season coach Rob Lanier opens with a four-game homestand at Moody Coliseum that concludes with Texas A&M on Nov. 14. After Thanksgiving, the Mustangs host three straight, including Dayton Nov. 29 before road games at Arizona State Dec. 6 and Florida State on Dec. 16.

The Mustangs return three starters in Zhuric Phelps, Samuell Williamson and Jalen Smith plus a transfer class ranked as high as No. 2 in The American. In August, the Mustangs went on a 10-day trip to Spain, going 3-0 with games in Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona.

Information from SMU athletics is included in this story.