The SMU Mustangs are the athletic teams that represent Southern Methodist University in University Park, Texas, United States. SMU was founded in 1911 and joined the Southwest Conference, competing against Baylor, Rice, Texas, Texas A&M, Arkansas and Oklahoma A&M (which later became Oklahoma State). They have been a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) since 2024.
The football team has participated in various bowl games, from the Dixie Classic in 1924 to the Fenway Bowl in 2023. Football alumni include Heisman winner Doak Walker, All-American Eric Dickerson, and two-time Super Bowl winner Forrest Gregg.
Conference affiliations
Timeline history The Mustangs currently participate in the NCAA Division I (FBS for football) as a member of the ACC. From 1918 to 1996, the Mustangs were a member of the Southwest Conference, until it formally disbanded. The Mustangs subsequently joined the Western Athletic Conference and in 2005, SMU accepted an invitation to the Western Division of Conference USA. They accepted an invitation to join the Big East Conference, which split along football lines in 2013, with SMU and the other FBS schools reorganizing as the American Athletic Conference (now known as the American Conference). SMU was the only private school in the conference when it began operation as the American in 2013, but it was joined by Tulane and Tulsa a year later. The Mustangs left the conference on June 30, 2024, to join the Atlantic Coast Conference.
NCAA timeline Southwest Conference (1918–1996) Western Athletic Conference (1996–2005) Conference USA (2005–2013) American Athletic Conference (2013–2024) Atlantic Coast Conference (2024–present)
Varsity sports Men's sports Women's sports Basketball Basketball Football Cross country Golf Equestrian Soccer Golf Swimming & Diving Rowing Tennis Soccer Swimming & diving Tennis Track and field† Volleyball
Football
National titles In 1935, SMU had a 12–1–0 record, scoring 288 points while giving up 39. The Mustangs shut out eight of their 12 regular season opponents, including conference rivals Texas, Rice, Baylor, and Texas A&M. The 1935 Mustangs were crowned national champions by Frank Dickinson, one of seven contemporaneous selectors, all math systems, that chose five different national champions that year. Dickinson was an economics professor at the University of Illinois. SMU claims the 1935 national title without qualification, even though they lost the Rose Bowl, as the Dickinson System was the first math system that was national in scope to select national champions.
SMU claims three national championships in football, including 1981, when SMU was one of five teams selected as co-champions by the National Championship Foundation, and 1982, when the team won the Cotton Bowl Classic and was selected as one of two co-champions by Bill Schroeder of the Helms Athletic Foundation as his last ever selection. All told, the Mustangs have played in 21 bowl games, including one appearance in the Rose Bowl, four appearances in the Cotton Bowl Classic, and four straight bowl appearances following the Mustangs' 2009 resurgence in football.
Southwest Conference Championships
1923 1926 1931 1935 1947 1948 1966 1981 1982 1984
Notes
American Athletic Conference Championships 2023
Bowl appearances and results
Season Bowl Game Opponent W/L PF PA 1924 Dixie Classic West Virginia Wesleyan L 7 9 1935 Rose Bowl Stanford L 0 7 1947 Cotton Bowl Classic Penn State T 13 13 1948 Cotton Bowl Classic Oregon W 21 13 1963 Sun Bowl Oregon L 14 21 1966 Cotton Bowl Classic Georgia L 9 24 1968 Bluebonnet Bowl Oklahoma W 28 27 1980 Holiday Bowl BYU L 45 46 1982 Cotton Bowl Classic Pittsburgh W 7 3 1983 Sun Bowl Alabama L 7 28 1984 Aloha Bowl Notre Dame W 27 20 2009 Hawaii Bowl Nevada W 45 10 2010 Armed Forces Bowl Army L 14 16 2011 BBVA Compass Bowl Pittsburgh W 28 6 2012 Hawaii Bowl Fresno State W 43 10 2017 Frisco Bowl Louisiana Tech L 10 512019 Boca Raton Bowl Florida Atlantic L 28 522022 New Mexico Bowl BYU Cougars L 23 242023 Fenway Bowl Boston College Eagles L 14 232024CFP First RoundPenn State Nittany LionsL10382025 Holiday Bowl Arizona Wildcats W 24 19
SMU's closest rival in athletics is Texas Christian University (TCU) in Fort Worth, Texas. In football, SMU and TCU compete annually (with the exception of 2006) for the Iron Skillet. In 2005, an unranked SMU beat then 24th ranked TCU for SMU's first win against a ranked team in 19 years (since October 1986). TCU had won the previous seven football games played against SMU. SMU competed with the United States Naval Academy (Navy) for the Gansz Trophy. The Gansz Trophy is awarded to the winner of the United States Naval Academy and Southern Methodist University football game. It was created in 2009 through a collaboration between the two athletic departments. The trophy is named for Frank Gansz, who played linebacker at Navy from 1957 through 1959. Gansz later served as the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs and on the coaching staffs at Navy and SMU. The most recent matchup between the two schools was on November 25, 2023, when SMU defeated Navy, 59–14. SMU once competed annually with Rice University in football for the Battle for the Mayor's Cup. The Doak Walker Award, an annual collegiate award given to the "most outstanding college running back", is named after SMU Heisman Trophy Winner Doak Walker. On November 11, 2006, redshirt freshman quarterback Justin Willis broke the single season touchdown pass record held by Chuck Hixson (21). Willis threw for three touchdowns in a 37–27 loss to Houston, setting the new single season record at 23. At the end of the season, Willis set the new record at 26. He also broke the SMU single season touchdown record accounting for 29 touchdowns. He was named to the Freshman All-American team at quarterback. SMU's current head coach is Rhett Lashlee, who was hired after the 2022 season after having been offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of Miami. He had previously served as an assistant at several college programs, including a two-season stint as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at SMU from 2018 to 2019.
The "death penalty"
On February 25, 1987, the Infractions Committee of the NCAA voted unanimously to cancel SMU's entire 1987 football season and all four of SMU's scheduled home games in 1988 in spite of SMU's cooperation and recommended sanctions. On April 11, 1987, SMU formally canceled the 1988 season, in effect, self-imposing a death penalty for a second football season.
The program was terminated for the 1987 season because the university was making approximately $61,000 in booster payments from 1985 to 1986. It later emerged that a "slush fund" had been used to pay players as early as the mid-1970s, and athletic officials had known about it as early as 1981.
SMU was eligible for this penalty because it had already been placed on probation less than five years prior to these violations – specifically, in 1985, for earlier recruiting violations. Since many players were poor, boosters would pay for rent or other bills for the parents of the athletes, and several key boosters and administration officials felt it would be unethical to cut off payments. When the sanctions were handed down, SMU had only three players – all seniors about to graduate – receiving payments.
Not long afterward, SMU announced that its football team would stay shuttered for the 1988 season as well after school officials received indications that they wouldn't have enough experienced players to field a viable team.Frank, Peter. "'88 football season canceled by SMU." New York Times, April 11, 1987. As it turned out, new coach Forrest Gregg was left with an undersized and underweight lineup. It took the Mustang football program almost a decade to recover from the effects of the scandal, the team not returning to a bowl game until 2009 or winning a conference title until 2023. Since returning from the Death Penalty seasons, SMU has had six non-losing seasons, two of them .500 seasons.
Basketball
In men's basketball, the Mustangs have one Final Four Appearance accompanied by 14 Southwest Conference Championships. In July 2016, SMU hired Tim Jankovich to lead the Mustangs. Tim Jankovich retired in 2022.
The team has advanced to the postseason 12 times since 1993. SMU's women's basketball team hired Coach Travis Mays in 2016. In 2020-2021 the women's basketball team canceled the remainder of the season. After 5 seasons Travis Mays contract was not renewed and his overall record was 53–76.
Soccer They have won a total of twenty nine conference championships: Southwest Conference (6): 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982 Western Athletic Conference (5): 1997, 1998, 1999 Missouri Valley Conference (4): 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Conference USA (6): 2005, 2006, 2010, 2011, 2012 American Athletic Conference (7): 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2023 Atlantic Coast Conference (1): 2025 Years in italics both regular season and tournament champion.
The men's soccer team has been a national contender, including a recent trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2025.
During the 2006 season, the SMU men's soccer program was ranked No. 1 in the nation for four consecutive weeks. The team sat atop the four national polls with a record of 13–0–2 in the Adidas/NSCA poll, SoccerTimes.com poll, Soccer America Magazine poll, and the CollegeSoccerNews.com poll. Concurrently, the SMU women's soccer program cracked the top 25, at No. 22 in the Adidas/NSCA poll and No. 19 in the SoccerTimes.com poll. The SMU men's soccer team finished the 2006 regular season ranked No. 2 in the nation. Additionally, SMU won the CUSA title game, beating Kentucky 2–0 in Tulsa. This CUSA championship win is the sixth conference title for SMU since 1997. The SMU men's soccer team finished the 2010 season with an overall record of 16–2–2. The Mustangs finished the season with a trip to the quarterfinals where they lost to North Carolina in a penalty kick shootout. From 2013 to 2024, SMU won a total of 8 conference titles as a member of the American Athletic Conference (American). In 2025, SMU secured their first Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Tournament title defeating Virginia 1–0.
Golf The men's golf team won the 1954 NCAA Championship. In 2015, Bryson DeChambeau won the NCAA individual championship.
They have won ten conference championships: Southwest Conference (5): 1931, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1988 Western Athletic Conference (2): 2004, 2005 (co-champions) Conference USA (1): 2006 American Athletic Conference (1): 2014, 2022
In 2006, Golf Digest ranked the SMU men's golf program No. 16 in the nation. On May 1, 2007, SMU senior Colt Knost was named the Conference USA golfer of the year. He earned golfer of the week awards five times during his senior year, and can be recognized for shooting a record setting 64 for an amateur golfer. The 2015 team was given a postseason ban after multiple recruiting violations and unethical conduct under coach Josh Gregory. The decision also meant DeChambeau was unable to defend his title.
SMU's men's golf team was named the number 16 golf team in the nation by Golf Digest in 2006, and produced pro golfer Knost. Payne Stewart (class of 1979), was an elite player on the PGA Tour; he won three major titles and played on five Ryder Cup teams before his untimely death in 1999.
In 1979, Kyle O'Brien won the AIAW women's national intercollegiate individual golf championship.
Swimming & Diving