It’s a big week for SMU.
The Mustangs (19-7, 10-3 AAC) travel to the Sunshine State this week for a pair of games against the two teams sitting above SMU in the AAC standings. The Ponies face Florida Atlantic (20-6, 10-3) Thursday at 6 p.m. On Sunday, SMU will face South Florida (19-5, 12-1) which is one of two teams in the nation with a longer win streak than the Mustangs.
The Bulls have won 11 straight and haven’t lost since a Jan. 7 game against UAB. Most recently, the Bulls extended their win streak with a 90-86 victory against then-No. 24 Florida Atlantic. The loss dropped the Owls out of the AP Top 25 Poll, but they still received 27 votes in the poll. South Florida isn’t ranked either but received 45 votes.
The Ponies, though, didn’t receive a single vote in either the AP Top 25 or Coaches Poll. That will certainly change if the Mustangs stretch their win streak to eight, but it’s fair to wonder if they should at least get some votes in the polls.
The Mustangs have the same or better record than 10 ranked teams, including No. 5 Tennessee and are coming off of a dominant win against Memphis. They’re ranked 36th in the NCAA Men’s Basketball NET Rankings, three spots behind Florida Atlantic (No. 33) and 56 spots ahead of South Florida (No. 92). Yet, the Mustangs aren’t being shown much love.
One look at SMU’s schedule, though, shows why. The Mustangs haven’t played a ranked team all season and have only played five teams in Power 5 conferences. That will change next season.
On July 1, SMU will officially enter the AAC and in doing so will enter a conference with premier teams, like North Carolina and Duke. A six-game win streak would possibly include wins against one of those two schools, and other big name programs such as Notre Dame, Virginia, Clemson, and Miami.
So, while SMU isn’t receiving much love this season, a similar season next season will bring lots of love and votes in polls. But the Mustangs aren’t thinking about next year. They’re focused on two of their biggest games of the season this week.
“To be honest with you, I know we’re on a two-game road swing because we’re going to Florida to play both Florida teams, but I’m not sure who or when we play after that and I just don’t have the bandwidth to think that far ahead,” SMU coach Rob Lanier said in Monday's coaches show.
He's not looking ahead, which is the perfect attitude at this point for the red-hot Mustangs. As long as they keep winning that's really about all they can do. Lanier knows that as well as anybody.
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