NCAA Tournament March Madness

#38 SMU

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Projected seed: 9

SMU’s résumé balances a handful of signature wins against a string of damaging setbacks, which keeps the team in that middle-of-the-bracket conversation. The Mustangs have proven they can beat quality opponents, with a home victory over North Carolina, a neutral-site win over Texas A&M and road wins at Mississippi State, Wake Forest and Pittsburgh that all bolster the profile, but the body of work is weakened by an ugly loss at Vanderbilt, a home setback to Louisville and several razor-thin defeats at Duke, Clemson, Syracuse and NC State that offer little cushion. The offense can light it up against midmajors and high-end opponents alike, yet defensive lapses have turned winnable games into resume dents. Upcoming opportunities — a home rematch with Louisville, a manageable chance against Boston College and road tests at California and Stanford followed by more conference games — give SMU a clear path to climb if it can clean up the defense away from home.

Date Opponent Ranking Outcome
11/3Tarleton St210W96-76
11/6TAM C. Christi186W69-58
11/11Murray St108W102-91
11/15Butler81W87-85
11/18Ark Pine Bluff301W106-60
11/21Arkansas St148W100-69
11/24Radford236W89-72
11/28@Mississippi St90W87-81
12/3@Vanderbilt12L88-69
12/7(N)Texas A&M36W93-80
12/13(N)LSU55L89-77
12/21Cent Arkansas163W99-82
12/28CS Fullerton171W110-63
1/3North Carolina28W97-83
1/7@Clemson33L74-70
1/10@Duke3L82-75
1/14Virginia Tech65W77-76
1/17Virginia20L72-68
1/20@Wake Forest72W91-79
1/24Florida St79W83-80
1/31@Louisville15L88-74
2/3NC State30L84-83
2/7@Pittsburgh109W86-67
2/10Notre Dame82W89-81
2/14@Syracuse69L79-78
2/17Louisville1542%
2/21Boston College15192%
2/25@California6758%
2/28@Stanford7660%
3/4Miami FL3761%
3/7@Florida St7962%