2023 Conference Opponents

[stlpony]

Who will be SMU's toughest conference game next year? All four of our home games (North Texas, Tulsa, Charlotte, and Navy) have a new coach. The four road games are against Rice, Memphis, East Carolina, and Temple. Memphis lost all of their WRs and best RB to the portal. ECU lost their RB and WR to the NFL draft. It's early, but I have a hard time thinking we won't be favored (and probably significantly) every game. In addition, as long as our QB play is strong, SMU's talent appears to be taking a big step forward next year.

[DC-Pony]

I agree. As it stands now, I’d expect we’d be favored in each.

Looking at that slate of games further drives home how watered down our conference has become. That said, we’re not guaranteed anything in the revised conference and will need to take each opponent seriously.

Any chance for serious post-season games on the national level will require us to sweep our conference games.

[ponyboy]

North Texas will be pumped to show they belong. Trap game.

[BUS]

Please give me some help with Charlotte?

[Charleston Pony]

Please give me some help with Charlotte?

They've had only one winning season and one (losing) bowl appearance in their 8 years in CUSA so this was an invitation based on their metro location and "potential". They fired their coach after his 3rd losing season in 4 years there and hired a P5 assistant but I would pencil this one in as a W. They've pulled in a handful of P5 transfers through the portal and retained Grant DuBose, a WR we made a run at but it would be a huge disappointment to lose to them.

[Charleston Pony]

Who will be SMU's toughest conference game next year? All four of our home games (North Texas, Tulsa, Charlotte, and Navy) have a new coach. The four road games are against Rice, Memphis, East Carolina, and Temple. Memphis lost all of their WRs and best RB to the portal. ECU lost their RB and WR to the NFL draft. It's early, but I have a hard time thinking we won't be favored (and probably significantly) every game. In addition, as long as our QB play is strong, SMU's talent appears to be taking a big step forward next year.

Road games at Memphis and ECU will both be tough. For all the talk of SMU "dominating" next year's AAC, I doubt we have a talented and deep enough roster to go undefeated in conference play but I expect improvement from 5-3 and hope our guys can make it to the AAC Championship game next year...could be against UTSA but I haven't checked their schedule.

From the looks of this schedule, I assume there will not be divisions as I would expect SMU to be aligned with Tulsa, UNT, Rice, UTSA, Navy and Tulane

[Charleston Pony]

Will admit that with all the PAC-12 speculation I had not paid much attention to the future AAC but here's the plan if SMU is to remain as a member of The American:

https://theamerican.org/news/2022/11/9/ ... asons.aspx

Actually not a bad strategy to rotate scheduling while trying to build some rivalries, ours being UNT. Even with divisions, there's no way to avoid the possibility of a rematch in the championship game but if this is to be our home for the foreseeable future, I like the various matchups in the AAC's attempt to create rivalries. Just need to hope we can continue the series with TCU. If that series ends, I don't doubt for a minute it will have been Sonny's doing.

[PNW_Stang]

With our new conference, and an elite portal haul, more NIl than the rest of the conference - this is our chance to win big. Our chance to be the new “BCS Buster” right in time for maybe the last round of expansion. Need to be the best of the rest for a little while, like all the other teams that got to move up. No [deleted] about the conference, keep recruiting at the top of it, and dominate it. I think UtSA is our biggest competition.

[mustangxc]

Anything worse than 6-2 would be totally unacceptable. That schedule is perfect for at least 6 if not 8 conference wins.

[peruna81]

Anything worse than 6-2 would be totally unacceptable. That schedule is perfect for at least 6 if not 8 conference wins.

Agreed...win everything, including the Conference championship. It may be like "the best ice hockey player in Ecuador" in this conference iteration, but it essential this year.

[ponyboy]

Who is the best hockey player in Ecuador?

[Terry Webster]

We should be favored in every game next year except OU and tcu.

[peruna81]

Who is the best hockey player in Ecuador?

Patricio Guevara

Don't ask how I knew this...

[stlpony]

We should be favored in every game next year except OU and tcu.

Who knows, maybe next year's Oklahoma team resembles this year's team and we can be competitive. I think the staff knows the expectations are 10 wins. If we lose a conference game, we need a corresponding upset OOC, and we absolutely cannot lose two conference games. I assume our last OOC opponent will be a layup team (whenever it gets scheduled), but it'd be nice to see an old rivalry team come to Ford this year. Last, we need the conference championship to be a "home" game for SMU this year!

[EastStang]

OU has to have put on their big boy shorts. They don't want to be last in the SEC. I'd love to beat the Sooners and the Frogs next year and if we win the Conference so much the better. Our toughest conference games are going to be Navy and surprisingly Rice. I can't recall and easy game against the Owls.