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SMU

Mustangs · ACC

Head coach Rhett Lashlee Year 4 with SMU

Year-4 HCs (2015-2024) averaged -0.65 W vs SP+ expected · n=59

Season Projection · 2026 W0

10,000 sims
8.5
Expected wins
8-4
Proj record
6 to 11
Win range (90%)
#25 (13–44)
Final rank (90%)
11%
Make playoff
13%
Win conference

Path to Glory

Tap a win or a loss on each pivotal game to see how the playoff probability shifts. Leave any game unset to average across both outcomes.

Make the playoff

11%

Baseline projection.

  • at Louisville
    Away · Sep 19
  • at Florida State
    Away · Sep 7
  • vs Virginia
    Home · Oct 17
  • vs Wake Forest
    Home · Nov 14

Pivotal games are the 5 with the largest playoff-probability swing, ranked by the model. Math: chained Bayesian log-odds update from the conditional simulation set; gets the directionally right answer but won't perfectly capture cross-game correlations until the full Monte Carlo pipeline lands.

Returning production · 2025

50 PCI
  • Quarterback 40% (2/5 players)
  • Offensive line 59% (13/22 players)
  • Skill (RB/WR/TE) 56% (20/36 players)
  • Front 7 (DL/LB) 50% (15/30 players)
  • Secondary 65% (13/20 players)
  • Special teams 25% (3/12 players)

PCI weights returning production by position group (QB/OL heaviest). 70%+ is healthy continuity; 45-70% is a normal rebuild; below 45% is a meaningful turnover.

Situational efficiency · 2025

FBS percentile rank
  • 3rd-down conversion 37.2% 52th — average
  • Red-zone TD rate 21.3% 91th — elite
  • 4th-down aggression 29.9% 21th — bottom tier
  • Late & close 8.2 yds/play 96th — elite

Percentile is across all FBS teams with play-by-play data for the season. "Late & close" is yards per play in Q4+ with a one-score margin — a proxy for clutch offensive performance.

Schedule

Full 2026 slate. Tap a row for the matchup breakdown.

Latest Stories

  • Recap

    SMU: 2025 Week 16 recap

    SMU sits at No. 23 with a 9–4 record after a 38–35 road loss to California in Week 14. The defeat marked a step backward for a team that had been competitive in the ACC, and the Mustangs' rating of 13.4 reflects the sting of that close…

More coming

Per-team pages get the full treatment in Phase 3: current rating, season projection histogram, schedule with win probabilities, and live overlays on Pylon stream days. For now, this page exists so stories and news have a permanent home as content rolls in.