SMU Mustangs to play in Frisco Bowl

The SMU Mustangs will play one more football game this year. 

On Wednesday, SMU accepted an invitation to compete in the 2020 Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl held at Toyota Stadium, home of Major League Soccer club FC Dallas, in Frisco, Texas on Dec. 19. 

Kickoff for the game that will air on ESPN2 will be announced at a later time. According to Sam Khan Jr. of ESPN, SMU will likely face an opponent from Conference USA. 

The Mustangs began the season with five straight victories and reached as high as No. 16 in national rankings. Following a 7-1 start, however, SMU suffered back-to-back defeats to the Tulsa Golden Hurricane and East Carolina Pirates. The Mustangs were supposed to play the Houston Cougars on Dec. 5 but couldn't due to positive COVID-19 test results and subsequent quarantines within SMU's program. 

Houston-SMU was originally scheduled for Nov. 21 until the Cougars had to withdraw because of coronavirus-related setbacks. 

Also on Dec. 19, Tulsa will play the Cincinnati Bearcats in the American Athletic Conference championship game. 

Earlier this week, the inaugural LA Bowl scheduled to be held at SoFi Stadium on Dec. 30 became the 11th postseason college football game canceled because of the health crisis. It's believed more games could be scrapped over the next few weeks.