College
On the cusp: SMU football program on brink of national breakthrough
SMU Mustangs readied for return to college football prominence thanks to NIL, expanded playoff, transfer rules after overcoming the consequences of Pony Express
DALLAS – SMU has risen. And, oddly enough, the factors propelling the Mustangs’ return to college football relevance are the same ones that prompted the NCAA to issue the Death Penalty in 1987. Like bootlegger-turned-brewers after the end of prohibition, old sins are now rebranded as new opportunities.
Most college football fans are familiar with the story of SMU and the Death Penalty. Eric Dickerson and the gold Trans Am. The Pony Express. The one-year ban that set the program back multiple generations. The Mustangs were a top 15 team in the four years spanning from 1981 to 1984. They claim two national titles (‘81 and ‘82) and were 41-5-1 in that time, winning at least 10 games in each of those seasons.SMU didn’t win 10 games again until 2019.
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