Let’s face it – SMU is not the ideal breeding ground for future NBA hot shots.
Case in point, the last time the men’s basketball team made it to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament was in 1956. Even the most considerate sports fan would label five decades without a tournament appearance a somewhat severe dry spell.
At least the basketball team can brag about more wins than the football team, especially with big wins over the University of Colorado and Texas A&M Corpus Christi. One would think fans should recognize that while the Mustangs may not post the ideal record, this team still has plenty of potential.
It could always be worse. Rice managed to pull off just three wins in last season’s entirety – none of which came during conference play. This season, Rice has just one more win for the Mustangs. I won’t dwell on the fact that the Mustangs have already lost to Rice once this season.
The one piece of good news fans can embrace is that no matter what the Mustangs’ record is, come the start of the C-USA Tournament, they are ensured to play in the opening round.
True, we are the only team in Conference USA with a single win, but tonight could be the night SMU witnesses a Cinderella story on the Hilltop if the Mustangs can knock off No.18 Memphis.
The Tigers are coming into Moody Coliseum tomorrow night riding a twelve-game win streak; one has to wonder if we even stand a chance against one of the notoriously best teams in the country. (Just to compare, the Mustangs are on a four-game skid. Their last win was over CU back in the first week of January).
I’ll give the Mustangs the benefit of the doubt and say they put up an effort even the most skeptical SMU fan could be proud of two seasons ago when SMU almost defeated Memphis 64-61.
In the three-point loss back in 2006, nearly 3,600 people poured into Moody to see if SMU could upset the Top 25 team. Last year, in the 55-71 loss to the Tigers, 7,421 fans packed Moody. Those that failed to show up missed out on the chance to see the NCAA runner-up play for free. Maybe tonight we can break the record of 8,998 fans that turned out to see SMU play Texas Tech back in 2001.
Nicole Jacobsen is a junior journalism and advertising double major. She can be reached for comment at [email protected].
