The SMU Mustangs currently sits third in the West Division of Conference-USA.

A 3-2 record in conference play isn’t what the Mustangs were hoping for, but still gives them a chance for a conference championship.

SMU has lost to the University of Texas-El Paso and East Carolina and have defeated Tulane, Marshall and the University of Alabama-Birmingham.

The Mustangs still have to play Houston, Tulsa and Rice.

Tulsa leads the West Division with a 4-0 record, and Houston is in second with a 4-1 record.

This Saturday Houston and Tulsa play each other. And the Mustangs still have games against both these teams.

What needs to happen

SMU needs Houston to defeat Tulsa this weekend.

That will move Houston into first place with a 5-1 conference record, while Tulsa will drop to second with a record of 4-1.

Then on Nov. 11 the Mustangs need to defeat Houston. This would move SMU into second place with a conference record of 4-2, and move them over Houston.

Next, on Nov. 18 the Mustangs will face their toughest challenge since Texas Tech in Tulsa.

With a victory against Tulsa the Mustangs would move into first place.

Then all SMU has to do is defeat Rice in Houston on Nov. 25 after Thanksgiving.

If that holds there will be a four way tie on top.

This is where it gets tricky.

The first rule for a tie-breaker is head-to-head records. The Mustangs will have defeated Tulsa and Houston, while falling to UTEP. But UTEP would have lost to Tulsa and Houston.

So they would move to divisional winning percentage. The Mustangs will have lost to only one team in the western division, while all three others will have had two losses to divisional opponents.

This outcome would place SMU in position for their first conference championship since 1984.

A lot of things have to fall in place for SMU including winning each of their last three games, but it could happen.