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Not pursuing a degree at SMU?  You may be admitted as a visiting student by submitting an application to our Visiting Undergraduate Student Services office .  A complete application includes:

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If you wish to transfer credit to your home institution we strongly recommend you seek pre-approval of course equivalency before enrolling in your SMU course.

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SMU’s ACC timeline: How the Mustangs found their way back into a power conference

With smu set to officially join the acc this july, it was anything but a linear path for the ponies..

By Nate Sanchez

8:00 AM on Jun 5, 2024 CDT

Is SMU officially back on the national stage?

Not yet. But the Mustangs are set to officially join the Atlantic Coast Conference on July 1. That’s a pretty important step back towards the national stage.

1918-1996: Southwest Conference

The historic Southwest Conference sparks plenty of nostalgia among older college sports fans in this area. The Mustangs were a part of the SWC from 1918 until it was disbanded in 1996. The core of the conference included Arkansas, Baylor, Texas, Texas A&M, Rice, SMU, TCU, Texas Tech, and Houston.

The conference was one of the most dominant in college athletics, but began to decline in the 1980s as several schools were penalized for violating the NCAA’s recruiting rules. This ultimately came to a head when the NCAA gave the SMU football program the “death penalty” from 1987 to 1988 . But in its heyday, the conference had incredible success both on the football field and on the basketball court. Until 1995, the Southwest Conference champion was invited to the Cotton Bowl Classic on New Year’s Day in Dallas. In an era before actual championship games were played and the champions were determined by the final polls, the Cotton Bowl often had national title implications.

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The SWC was also iconic because of the coaches and players it boasted. Legendary coaches like John Heisman, Paul “Bear” Bryant, Darrell Royal, Lou Holtz, and several others all walked the sidelines in the conference. Eric Dickerson and Andre Ware are just two of the many star college football players from the SWC. The SWC’s basketball resume is headlined by Nolan Richardson’s dominant Arkansas basketball teams and Houston’s “Phi Slama Jama” teams.

As the SWC declined in the late 1980s, it slowly disbanded in the early 1990s. Arkansas left for the SEC in 1990. Texas, Texas A&M, Baylor, and Texas Tech bolted for the Big 8 in 1994, forming what we now know as the Big 12. SMU, TCU, and Rice headed to the Western Athletic Conference while Houston went to Conference USA.

Related: SMU’s Rhett Lashlee: Mustangs are sleeping giant, positioned for ACC future

1996-2005: Western Athletic Conference

The “death penalty” did what seemed to be irreparable damage to the SMU football program. After being one of college football’s powers in the early 1980s, the Mustangs were a laughing stock once the football program resumed in 1989. SMU was left behind when the SWC dissolved and found itself in the WAC in 1996. During the football program’s nine years in the WAC, SMU had a winning record just one time (6-5 in 1997) and finished with an overall record of 33-71 (including a 0-12 2003 campaign).

SMU enjoyed some success in men’s basketball while in the SWC, but the Mustangs had only seven winning seasons and never made the NCAA Tournament from 1994 to 2012.

2005-2013: Conference USA

When the Big East Conference poached some of Conference USA’s members, Conference USA turned to the WAC to replace some of its lost members. The conference added Rice, SMU, Tulsa, and UTEP from the WAC.

While SMU’s men’s basketball team remained dormant during its time in Conference USA (though SMU did hire Larry Brown in 2012 ), the football program showed signs of life. After Phil Bennett’s 1-11 campaign in 2007, SMU hired June Jones out of Hawaii to be its next head football coach. Jones went 1-11 in his first season, but led a historic turnaround in 2009. SMU was invited to its first bowl game since 1984 and defeated Nevada in the Hawaii Bowl 45-10.

In 2010, ESPN’s “30 for 30″ documentary series detailed SMU’s “death penalty” in a program titled “Pony Excess” . The documentary followed the program from its peak of the early 1980s, to its dramatic fall from grace, all the way to its resurrection under June Jones in 2009.

SMU finished with a 31-34 record under Jones in Conference USA, but put together four winning regular seasons in that time.

2013-2024: American Athletic Conference

In December of 2011, SMU announced it was moving to the Big East Conference during a series of messy realignment events.

Except SMU never played in a conference with that name.

The American Athletic Conference emerged from the messy divorce of the Big East Conference. During the conference realignment period of the 2010s, the Big East’s structure created massive issues. On the hardwood, the Big East boasted several prestigious basketball programs like Villanova, St. John’s, Georgetown, and others. But those programs’ football teams didn’t compete at the FBS level. Those programs became known as the “Catholic Seven”, and announced their intentions to leave the conference and retain the Big East name as a basketball-only conference in 2013.

A month later, the remaining football-playing members of the conference announced the leftover schools from the old Big East Conference were to be called the American Athletic Conference.

Since then, SMU has enjoyed new levels of success both in football and men’s basketball that helped make the Mustangs more attractive to power conferences. Moody Coliseum was ignited under Larry Brown in SMU’s first season in the AAC, as there were almost nightly sellouts. Under Larry Brown and his successor Tim Jankovich, SMU went to the NCAA Tournament in 2015 and 2017 (the program’s first tournament bids since 1993) and the Mustangs were ranked as high as No. 11 in the AP poll. SMU has not reached that success in recent years, but that stretch ignited a new enthusiasm for basketball.

The football program continued its steady climb that began with June Jones. Chad Morris led the Mustangs to a 7-5 season in 2017 before leaving for the Arkansas job . But the program took off when it hired Sonny Dykes as Morris’ successor . In Dykes’ second season in 2019, SMU won 10 games, was ranked as high as No. 15 in the AP poll, and was even featured on ESPN’s College Gameday in a primetime matchup against Memphis .

Dykes kept building the program, as the Mustangs were ranked as high as No. 16 in 2020 and No. 19 in 2021. After the 2021 season, Dykes left for TCU and former SMU offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee took over as the new head coach . In 2023, Lashlee’s second season and SMU’s last season in the AAC, the Mustangs went 11-3 and won their first conference championship since 1984 .

Related: 2024 ACC schedule: See when SMU plays Florida State in football, rest of inaugural slate

Flirtation with the Pac-12

While SMU’s steady climb in the college sports world happened on the field and on the court, leadership was working behind the scenes to get the Mustangs back into a power conference.

After months of rumors and flirtation, the Pac-12′s commissioner at the time, George Kliavkoff was seen at an SMU basketball game with SMU athletic director Rick Hart in February of 2023 . The Pac-12 was set to lose USC and UCLA to the Big 10 and was in search of a new media rights deal. The conference was in talks with SMU and San Diego State about potentially becoming members .

But the Pac-12 wanted to secure a new media deal before inviting new members . Ultimately, the conference was not able to hammer out a media rights deal before Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona State announced their intentions to leave the conference late in the summer of 2023. This left SMU in a massive state of uncertainty .

The ACC welcomes Cal, SMU and Stanford to the league in 2024! Read more: https://t.co/9vhMMdDCq1 pic.twitter.com/N2ugGLAert — The ACC (@theACC) September 1, 2023

July 1, 2024: SMU will officially join the ACC

After the flirtation with the Pac-12 ended and that conference effectively ceased to exist, SMU had to move to its next option. On September 1, SMU officially accepted an offer to join the Atlantic Coast Conference, along with Stanford and California.

SMU officials did not want to get left behind in this vigorous realignment cycle. SMU was left behind in the realignment of the early 2010s, and it cost the school dearly. To make sure this didn’t happen again, SMU agreed to forgo nine years of television revenue from the ACC . How costly is that? The average annual payout of $39.4 million in 2022 would amount to more than $350 million over the course of nine years.

This financial burden, along with the roughly $18 million exit fee owed to the AAC , was made doable by SMU’s endowment of nearly $2 billion.

The Mustangs are set to officially join the conference on July 1 and have been preparing for this transition for years. Gerald J. Ford Stadium is wrapping up its $100 million Garry Weber End Zone Complex in time for the 2024 season , and the school opened up its wallets for the men’s basketball program, replacing Rob Lanier by poaching USC’s head coach Andy Enfield .

The “death penalty” in 1987 sent SMU’s athletics programs spiraling into irrelevance. But on July 1, SMU will take a massive step towards regaining national relevance as it officially joins the ACC .

Find more college sports coverage from The Dallas Morning News here .

Find more SMU coverage from The Dallas Morning News here .

Nate Sanchez , Audience Sports Producer . Nate is a digital producer helping with coverage of all Dallas-area sports for The News. He is a DFW native and graduated from the University of Missouri in 2023.

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College football recruiting: Penn State, Texas A&M, more have major targets up for grabs as June rolls on

Schools like miami, michigan and ohio state also face key weekends as they try and fill out their class of 2025 recruiting class.

The first big weekend of the summertime  college football recruiting calendar  is down, but there's still three left to go. We saw a ton of big news materialize following last week's visits -- Georgia landed five-star linebacker Zayden Walker , while Alabama flipped four-star quarterback Keelon Russell from SMU . 

What does this weekend have the store? As they say in recruiting: Follow the visits -- commitments usually follow. 247Sports experts from coast to coast break down the biggest visits they're tracking during the June 7-9 recruiting weekend. Do not expect the  Class of 2025 recruiting rankings  to look the same a few days from now. 

Miami takes swing at Georgia lean

Top-10 recruit elijah griffin returns to coral gables .

"Five-star Elijah Griffin , the nation's top-ranked defensive lineman and No. 8 overall prospect, will take his first official visit to Miami this weekend . Griffin took his first visit to Coral Gables in March. Led by the efforts of defensive line coach and NFL Hall of Fame inductee Jason Taylor, the Hurricanes have been a mainstay contender for Griffin since. Mainstay isn't synonymous with front-running, however. 

Georgia is the clear-cut leader even if Griffin hasn't said such outright. The 'Dawgs are not expected to host Griffin on an official visit until the fall -- closer to his late-fall or winter decision timeframe. But look for the Peach Stater to take an unofficial visit to Athens (and possibly Clemson ) this month or next. USC will host Griffin on an official visit later this month. It won't be simple to dethrone the 'Dawgs, but Miami will take its shot this weekend ." — Anna Adams, 247Sports

Can Wolverines get ball rolling?

Michigan convinces 4-star dl to cancel miami visit.

"Michigan was able to get Palatine (Ill.) four-star defensive lineman Jaylen Williams to come off of his planned Miami visit and instead set one with the Wolverines . That is a key development in Michigan's chances to make good on their Crystal Ball lead for Williams , a 6-foot-6, 265-pound combo lineman who has played inside and outside. The nation's No. 20 defensive lineman still plans to visit Tennessee and Nebraska officially and is coming off of an unofficial with Texas A&M and may set an official with the Aggies. Miami is probably no longer in the picture. 

Williams has long held Michigan in high regard and has a connection with Wolverine commit Nate Marshall , a fellow Illinois defensive lineman. The key here is that he's quickly built a relationship with new defensive line coach Lou Esposito, who took over later in this recruitment but has steadied the ship from Michigan's end. Michigan's class ranked No. 41 a week ago. Because of other schools moving up, Michigan now ranks No. 47 . It would love to see a commitment get the ball rolling." — Allen Trieu, 247Sports

Notre Dame looks to strike gold -- again

Fighting irish covet elite california 'backer.

Could the Notre Dame Fighting Irish land an elite California linebacker for the second cycle in a row? This weekend could be pivotal for Marcus Freeman in that endeavor when Top247 prospect Madden Faraimo makes it to South Bend for his official visit . The physical defender from San Juan Capistrano (Calif.) JSerra Catholic is planning a summertime decision and has trips remaining to Ohio State (June 14) and Texas (June 21) after kicking off the hectic stretch with a stop at Washington (May 31). 

Nearby USC is also involved -- just like it was with former Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco star Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa -- but the Irish got the job done there and could take many of the same angles with the 6-foot-3, 230-pound Faraimo, who ranks No. 12 overall in the state of California for the 2025 class." — Blair Angulo, 247Sports

Ohio State eyes a building block for No. 2 class

6-foot-7 ot jackson lloyd wastes no time returning .

"This is the first official visit set for Carmel (Calif.) offensive lineman Jackson Lloyd and it will take him to Ohio State . The Buckeyes are the most recent school to offer the 6-foot-7, 290-pounder, but Chip Kelly was the first coach to do so when he was the head coach at UCLA . Alabama has him set for an official visit next weekend and he'll wrap with a visit to USC, but the Buckeyes get the first shot, just three weeks after he took an unofficial visit to Columbus in mid-May. The feeling has been that Alabama has been in the lead for a while, at least since Kalen DeBoer took over there; Washington was high on Lloyd's list a year ago. 

Ohio State's offer to Lloyd in March netted the Buckeyes a quick, unofficial visit and now the first official visit puts them in a good spot to make a late surge for the nation's No. 146 prospect . The Buckeyes currently have the No. 2 class nationally but that includes just one offensive lineman committed, so Lloyd would be a huge boost." — Brandon Huffman, 247Sports

Penn State wants to replenish WR room

Lions try to snare first class of 2025 wideout.

"None of the three receivers Penn State brought in via the portal or high school in the 2023 class are in the program, it lost leading returning receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith to the portal in the spring and the class of 2024 players are not ready to take on a significant role. It is why the Nittany Lions brought in Ohio State transfer Julian Fleming to lead the group this year but a game-breaker is yet to develop on the roster. Which means fans are eager for something good to materialize at the position in 2025. 

Penn State has 13 commitments and its class sits No. 10 in the nation, but it is light on receivers. The only receiver committed is Brooklyn Erasmus Hall's Lyrick Samuel. However, a priority target will be on campu s in Norfolk (Va.) Norcom's Matthew Outten , a four-star prospect who is listed as the No. 5 athlete in the nation but is being recruited as a receiver. 

Conventional wisdom says Penn State could go a long way in securing a commitment with the weekend visit with Syracuse , Virginia Tech and Maryland also involved. It is imperative Penn State receivers coach Marques Hagans and offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki put on a great show for Outten." — Brian Dohn, 247Sports

Can Texas A&M close deal with 5-star? 

Aggies could punctuate big weekend.

"Texas A&M is set for a big weekend with several of the top prospects in the country, but this truly feels like an opportunity to close the deal with five-star Galveston (Texas) Ball linebacker Jonah Williams. The Aggies have been picking up steam in this recruitment throughout the spring, and sources we talk to are most bullish on the Aggies to land the dynamic defender. In fact, I just changed my Crystal Ball prediction for Williams from Oklahoma to Texas A&M . 

Baseball could play a huge role in his recruitment as Williams is a legitimate MLB prospect on the diamond , and the Texas A&M baseball program, which hosts a Super Regional this weekend, is one of the best in the country at the moment. Mike Elko and the Aggies currently own the nation's No. 7 class , and closing the deal on Williams could kick off what Aggie fans hope to be a big summer on the recruiting trail while providing Elko with his second five-star in the 2025 cycle." — Mike Roach, 247Sports

USC has ground to make up with in-state star

Final chance for trojans and 4-star lb noah mikhail.

"This is an extremely important weekend for the USC Trojans when it comes to the recruitment of La Verna (Calif.) Bonita Top 100 linebacker Noah Mikhail . The 6-3, 227-pounder, who ranks as the No. 83 overall player in the class of 2025, is closing in on a June 30 decision. His final three includes USC, Oregon , and Texas A&M. Mikhail heads to College Station next weekend and then wraps things up in Eugene the weekend after that. 

Early on, most had Mikhail pegged for USC. Things eventually changed and Oregon gained steam. After visiting this spring, it was Texas A&M that had the momentum. Most see this as a race between the Ducks and Aggies, so the time is now for USC to do all it can to get this one back in their favor. This is his final visit with Lincoln Riley and his staff, so we'll see if the Trojans can make a convincing pitch. USC has the No. 5 class in the nation and Mikhail would be an excellent addition." — Tom Loy, 247Sports

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Why wait? Join the community of die-hard fans and gain insider access to the stories that matter most in college football. Subscribe now and experience the power of the industry leader!  

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'I Love It!' Five-Star DL Jahkeem Stewart Opens Up About Ohio State Visit

Matt galatzan | 4 hours ago.

The Ohio State Buckeyes might already have the No. 1 class in the 2025 recruiting cycle, but they are still focusing ahead on the 2026 class as well.

In fact, over the weekend, the Buckeyes hosted one of, if not their top targets in the cycle in St. Augustine (Reserve, LA) defensive tackle Jahkeem Stewart, who comes in as the No. 1 player in the class per On3's player rankings.

And according to Stewart, things could not have gone any better.

“I really love it,” Stewart said told Eleven Warriors. “It's a great school, great academics. I'm just looking forward to the coaching.”

In fact, it might be that coaching aspect that ends up giving the Buckeyes a chance at landing Stewart in the end.

Why? Because of his admiration and respect for defensive line coach Larry Johnson, who he believes is one of the best defensive line coaches - not just in the nation - but in the history of the sport.

“Coach Johnson, he's a great coach. One of the best defensive line coaches in college football history," Stewart said in the interview. "Just getting a chance to work with him, the drills he had me going through... it was all great."

Stewart also believes that his fit within the Buckeyes defense would be ideal. And standing at 6-foot-6 and weighing in at 270 pounds as a rising junior, he might be right.

As it stands, Stewart is still barely scratching the surface of his potential, and he believes with a coach like Johnson, he could do something special.

“I feel like I could fit perfectly in the defense,” Stewart said. “With the technique Coach Johnson’s teaching, and me being the person I am, my second effort, I want it more than a lot of these kids out here... And with Coach Johnson's mindset, we'll do great things together.”

MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Publisher of LonghornsCountry.com, AllAggies.com, and the Managing Editor of BuckeyesNow.com and TheGroveReport.com He is also the Editor-In-Chief of RamDigest.com and TexansDaily.com. Galatzan graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry under Mike Fisher at DallasBasketball.com in 2014, which at the time was part of the 247Sports network. He also spent two years covering the SMU Mustangs for PonyStampede.com on the 247Sports network. When DallasBasketball.com and CowboysCountry.com moved over to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, Galatzan followed suit, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of LonghornsCountry.com and AllAggies.com a year later. Through the years, Galatzan has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, former Longhorns players Dan Neil and Phil Dawson, and many other recruits, and current/former players for each of the teams he has covered. Galatzan is also a full-time employee in the digital media department for Audacy and KRLD FM's 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, which is the official radio home of the Dallas Cowboys. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan For any inquiries, please email [email protected]

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Alabama flips elite Class of 2025 quarterback Keelon Russell from SMU

The summer months are a critical time in college recruiting, and Alabama football secured a high-profile commitment on Tuesday when four-star quarterback Keelon Russell announced that he has flipped from SMU to the Crimson Tide.

The 6-foot-3, 180-pound prospect from Duncanville, Texas, had been committed to the Mustangs since September. He is ranked No. 38 overall and the No. 6 quarterback in the Class of 2025 in the 247Sports Composite. He is the 11th commitment — and the highest-rated prospect — in Alabama’s 2025 class.

🐘🐘 https://t.co/6B2jVBfOiM — Keelon “Dot em” Russell (@Pres1dential) June 4, 2024

Russell’s commitment comes shortly after his official visit to Alabama last weekend. Coach Kalen DeBoer and offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan prioritized Russell and did not offer any other quarterback in the 2025 cycle since the staff arrived in January. Russell previously was set to visit Florida (June 7) and Oregon (June 21), but Alabama closed the deal before those trips took place.

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Russell has led Duncanville High School to a 29-1 record as the starter, including back-to-back 6A state championships. Last season, he completed 189 of 262 attempts for 3,483 yards with 38 touchdowns and just three interceptions. He added 361 rushing yards and six touchdowns. During his career, he’s passed for nearly 6,000 yards, scored 69 total touchdowns and completed 69.5 percent of his passes.

Securing an elite quarterback is a huge boost for DeBoer’s first full recruiting class. It’s clear that his work with Michael Penix Jr. at Washington has resonated with prospects since his move to Alabama.

Jalen Milroe is expected to test the NFL after the 2024 season, leaving Ty Simpson , Dylan Lonergan , Austin Mack and Russell as the potential quarterbacks on Alabama’s roster looking ahead to 2025.

Russell is the sixth top-150 recruit to commit to Alabama during the 2025 cycle. There has been a concerted effort to recruit the Southeast, but there’s a national feel to this class as well, with commits from six states: Alabama, California, Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey and now Texas with Russell. The class ranks No. 8 nationally.

(Photo of Kalen DeBoer:  Gary Cosby Jr. / Tuscaloosa News / USA Today)

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Kennington Lloyd Smith III is a Staff Writer for The Athletic covering Alabama football. Kennington most recently covered University of Iowa football and men's basketball for the Des Moines Register. He is a three-time state press association award winner in feature writing, enterprise writing and podcasting. Kennington attended The University of Georgia and originates from Atlanta, GA. Follow Kennington on Twitter @ SkinnyKenny_