CFB Most Influential Programs
#19 Southern Methodist University Mustangs
School: Southern Methodist University Mustangs
First Game: 1915
Winning Percentage: .487 (99th)
Appearances in AP/Rank: 183 (51st)
Average AP Ranking: 12.4
National Titles: 3
Claim to Fame: The Death Penalty
Why I have them in my Collection: SMU is the only team I have in this collection that has a losing record. That said, good luck telling the story of college football without talking about SMU or their former conference, the Southwestern Conference.
The SWC was a collection of Texas schools and Arkansas that took football as seriously as one would expect in Texas. That is to say, if it wasn’t considered blasphemous, football in Texas would be as important as going to church 3 plus days a week. Heck, if you’re tapped into anything musical at all, you’d also see that Texas takes their band and choir competitions just as seriously.
But I don’t want to get off track.
As a result of the importance of football, the SWC was always getting hit with sanctions for paying and bribing players. Everyone did it, and some schools were pretty blunt. No one was blunter than SMU. If you want the full run down, I can’t recommend the Pony Excess 30 for 30 done by ESPN on SMU enough. Long story short, through a combination of braggadocious boosters and whistle blowers, SMU became the only football program to get the Death Penalty from the NCAA.
And this was after they pulled SMU off of TV (something you could do back then) and many other sanctions to try and curb the payroll.
Because of this, the program completely tanked, and SMU really hasn’t been the same since, save a few bright spots here and there. It remains to be seen what they will do as an ACC member (yeah, it’s weird for me to say it too), but SMU’s infamous story is about as college football as it gets. It’ll be interesting if they’ll ever be able to rise to the heights they were at in the early 80’s.
Thank you for reading Preston’s Sports Musings. If you enjoy the sports thoughts that fly through my mind on a wide range of subjects, consider becoming a free subscriber.
If a subscription is not in the cards at the moment, consider clicking the link below for a one time donation with “Buy Me A Coffee”. Anything is always appreciated, and you can click the button below as well:
More than anything if this piece moved you, share it far and wide with friends! I love reaching new people and learning new perspectives:
If you believe the writing I do here would be a beneficial read for the people in your life, please consider sharing my publication: