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Media has us in 4th this year behind Houston, UC and UCF. I think that with a favorable home schedule and none of the coaching crap from last year, we have a shot to win it all.

Pretty strange that Houston does not play UCF or Cincy.

From SMUMustangs.com:

Mustangs Picked To Finish Fourth In AAC Preseason Media Poll

IRVING, Texas (The American/SMU) – SMU was picked to finish fourth in the 2022 American Athletic Conference Preseason Media Poll, league officials announced Thursday.

Houston garnered the most points in the poll with 243 and picked up seven first-place votes, while Cincinnati was second with 242 points and ten first-place votes. UCF came in one spot ahead of the Mustangs at third with seven first-place votes.

The Mustangs finished 8-4 in 2021 and have won at least eight games in two of the last three seasons (7-3 in 2020). The 2021 Fenway Bowl bid was the third consecutive year with a bowl berth. SMU reached as high as No. 19 in the AP Poll and No. 16 in the Coaches Poll last season, and finished the regular season atop the AAC in 3rd down conversion % (.435), 4th down conversion % (.433), first down offense (301, 13th NCAA), kickoff returns (27.31, 8th NCAA), passing offense (304.5, 16th NCAA), sacks allowed (1.33, 15th NCAA) and total offense (465.9, 13th NCAA). SMU has recorded 37 wins over the last five seasons, second only to Cincinnati among AAC teams.

This is the third consecutive season the Mustangs have been picked to finish in the top four of the league (2021 3rd, 2020 4th).

Six big games come to Ford Stadium this fall, highlighted by the Battle for the Iron Skillet against TCU on Sept. 24 and a match-up with 2021 CFP participant and AAC Champion Cincinnati on Oct. 22 for Homecoming. The Mustangs will also host AAC Championship game participant and in-state rival Houston on Nov. 5, as well as Navy in a Friday night contest on Oct. 14, before Memphis visits to close the regular season for Senior Day on Nov. 26.

Conference road opponents include a Florida swing at UCF (Oct. 1) and USF (Nov. 12), a trip to Tulsa (Oct. 29) and a Thursday night game at Tulane (Nov. 17). SMU's non-conference slate features the season opener at UNT on Sept. 3, a home game against Lamar (Sept. 10) and a match-up at Maryland (Sept. 17).

Remaining kickoff times and TV information will be announced at a later date.

For ticket information or questions, call (214) SMU-GAME (768-4263) or visit SMUMustangs.com/tickets.

2022 American Athletic Conference Preseason Media Poll
Team (First-Place Votes)
Points
1. Houston (7) — 243
2. Cincinnati (10) — 242
3. UCF (7) — 225
4. SMU — 187
5. Memphis 162
6. East Carolina — 157
7. Tulane — 115
8. Tulsa — 93
9. South Florida — 71
10. Navy — 61
11. Temple — 28

ponyswim wrote:Pretty strange that Houston does not play UCF or Cincy.

They didn't play them last year either. Not very fair.

UH should have an asterisk by it in the standings!

Seriously. What is up with that?

It's total [deleted] the conference didn't make Cincinnati, Houston, and Central Florida have the toughest schedules possible this season. Total [deleted].

Channeling a not very nice man...

Just Win, baby.

we play cincy, uh and memphis at home? thats 3 of toughest 4. favorable.

No excuses, no drama. Prepare for the next game. Execute at the highest possible level. Win, smash the rock. Learn from previous game, prepare, rinse and repeat. If we want to be a tier 1 program fans, coaches and players have to welcome any opponent on any field on any day. Love you guys.... #ponyup

It would have been nice to send them off with crappy results. I suspect the 'payola'was in.

The fact that teams don't all face each other, because of the math, makes sense.
But the schedule definitely should be juggled so that each team plays every other team at least once every 2 years. No way Houston (or anyone else) should get a 2 year holiday from facing Cincinnati.

Assuming the UCF game will be played as scheduled, we may find out this week whether these pre-season projections were accurate. Until proven otherwise, I still think Cincy is the best team in the AAC and the smart money is on 2 of those top 3 departing teams to be playing in the AAC Championship game. Sure hope our guys can throw a wrench into these predictions in our next 5 games where we will face all 3 of them

Assuming it's pouring down and windy, sure would be nice to have a running game.

Charleston Pony wrote:Assuming the UCF game will be played as scheduled, we may find out this week whether these pre-season projections were accurate. Until proven otherwise, I still think Cincy is the best team in the AAC and the smart money is on 2 of those top 3 departing teams to be playing in the AAC Championship game. Sure hope our guys can throw a wrench into these predictions in our next 5 games where we will face all 3 of them

There are multiple reasons coaches say "I'm more interested in the rankings at the end of the season than at the start."

1. End-of-year rankings dictate contract extensions for those coaches.

2. Most preseason rankings are guesswork, at best. (Everyone had Kansas starting 4-0, right?)