The Mustangs travel to Orlando this weekend for the Conference USA Championships, hosted by the University of Central Florida at the UCF Tennis Complex.

SMU (15-10), who started the season at No. 43 in the national rankings, has dropped to No. 68.

The Mustangs enter the weekend having lost two of their last four matches. SMU lost 6-1 at home to Oklahoma State University on April 3, and was shutout last Saturday by Rice University.

The Mustangs have struggled against superior opponents this season, having won only two of eleven matches against teams currently ranked in the ITA Collegiate Team Rankings, with neither of those being in the top 50.

Looking ahead in the tournament, the Mustangs need to find a way to pull off some upsets to win the conference title this weekend. The two teams seeded above SMU, Rice and the University of Tulsa, both defeated the Mustangs in matchups this season.

SMU’s first match is against the sixth-seeded host UCF (10-10) on Friday at 1 p.m. A victory would advance the Mustangs to the finals on Saturday at 2 p.m. against the winner of No.2 Rice/No. 7 University of Alabama-Birmingham matchup. The finals of the tournament will be played Sunday at 11 a.m.

UCF enters the tournament on a two game losing streak, dropping a 4-3 loss to conference to East Carolina, and a 5-2 defeat to Marquette University.

The Knights do not have anyone ranked in the singles or doubles rankings. Conversely, junior Robin Fahgen is currently ranked at No. 61 for the Mustangs in singles, while sophomores Darren Walsh and Adham el-Effendi are at No. 53 in the doubles rankings.

The tournament begins Friday morning as No. 4 ECU (19-4) plays against No. 5 Southern Miss (9-8). At 11 am, top seed Tulsa (17-9) will match up against No. 8 (14-10) Memphis, and the Rice/UAB match will close out the first day of competition.