The Mustangs are the football team of Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas County, Texas. They compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision of the NCAA and play in the American Athletic Conference.
📜 SMU Mustangs Football History
SMU first fielded a football team in 1915, and the Mustangs nickname originated just 2 years later. Although the team began in the Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association, SMU joined the Southwest Conference in 1918 and remained a member until 1995, winning 11 conference championships in this period.
In 1987, SMU made history by becoming the first and only college football program to receive the NCAA "death penalty." Due to longstanding recruiting violations, the program was fully terminated for the 1987 season, and could not return in 1988 because the team did not have enough experienced players. The Mustangs program took 2 decades to recover, and recorded just 1 winning season between 1987 and 2007.
From 1996 to 2004, the Mustangs competed in the Western Athletic Conference, before moving to Conference USA in 2005. This membership lasted 7 years, but 2013 saw SMU join the American, where the team has played ever since.
