UNIVERSITY PARK — As SMU’s south goalpost rests somewhere between University Park and downtown Dallas, the SMU fan base, players and coaching staff relish the extra hour Saturday night to sleep off a long evening of reverse Boulevarding and partying all across North Texas.
What started as a college campus-friendly champagne shower using plastic water bottles in the SMU locker room — as actor Christopher McDonald, more well-known as “Happy Gilmore” villain Shooter McGavin looked on — soon made its way to Katy Trail Ice House. Country music star Luke Bryan dressed in Mustang gear met SMU coach Rhett Lashlee and started an “SMU” chant in the bar.
“It’s a big win,” Lashlee said after the 26-20 overtime victory Saturday afternoon. “We’re gonna celebrate like crazy.”
Related
Sports Roundup
But Lashlee, understanding a win over Miami in November isn’t the same as a win in January, knew the celebration would be short-lived.
“Tomorrow, we’re going to wake up and figure out how we’re going to go to Boston and get a win,” he said.
Whether SMU won or lost Saturday, Lashlee and his staff would’ve done the same. But the events of Saturday’s ACC slate made his work this week, and for the next month, all the more important.
After No. 8 Georgia Tech lost 48-36 to NC State Saturday night, five ACC teams are now tied for second place with one loss each in conference play — Georgia Tech, Pittsburgh, Louisville, SMU and Duke. Virginia, which lost a non-conference game to an ACC NC State team, sits atop the standings at 5-0.
Still with four Saturdays remaining before the Dec. 6 title game in Charlotte, many of those teams go head to head and will fall out of the race.
Duke plays Virginia on Nov. 15. SMU plays Louisville on Nov. 22 at Ford Stadium. Georgia Tech plays Pitt that same weekend.
For the Mustangs, the formula is simple: win, and they’ve still got a chance.
Wins over Boston College and California seem simple on paper, but SMU has to go on the road for both, and we all know the letdown that happened the last time they traveled to a weaker opponent after a win over a blue blood.
Their final game at Ford Stadium over Louisville won’t be an easy one, but SMU rises for big games, as it has against Clemson and Miami already this season.
Related
Let’s say SMU can win its three remaining games and finish 9-3 overall and 7-1 in the ACC. There are a few scenarios that could play out.
If Virginia (8-0) and Georgia Tech (7-1) also win out: Virginia would be in. Pitt, Duke and Louisville would be out. SMU and Georgia Tech would enter a tiebreaker. The first tiebreaker of head-to-head results doesn’t apply, as SMU and Georgia Tech didn’t play each other this year. Georgia Tech would hold the second tiebreaker of winning percentage against common opponents. SMU and Georgia Tech both faced Clemson, Wake Forest, Syracuse and Boston College. If both teams win out, Georgia Tech would have gone 4-0, and SMU would be 3-1.
If Georgia Tech (7-1) wins out and Virginia (7-1) loses to Duke (7-1): There would be a four-way tie for first place in the ACC. The problem for SMU is all three other teams have a chance to beat Wake Forest. Georgia Tech already has. That gives those teams the advantage over the Mustangs in most ACC tiebreaker scenarios.
If any of those teams loses another game, three-way tiebreakers are possible as well.
SMU needs to keep winning. That’s the top priority. Then, in their ideal world, Virginia wins out, eliminating Duke, Georgia Tech drops one of its games to either Boston College or Pitt, and if it’s against Pitt, the Panthers lose to Miami the last game of the year. That would set up an SMU-Virginia ACC title game.
SMU’s path to the ACC title game isn’t as clear as it was last year. The Mustangs could easily get left out on a tiebreaker — or none of this matters if they drop one of their next three games.
But SMU’s win over Miami gave them more than just a fun day of celebrating around Dallas.
It gave them a chance.
On Twitter/X: @Lassimak
Georgia Tech stunned by NC State for first loss, helping SMU in the processRhett Lashlee turned SMU into a ‘destination job.’ Mustangs’ win over Miami showed why