The Pony Express is back!
Southern Methodist University (SMU) will be moving up from the American Athletic Conference (AAC) to the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) beginning in the 2024-25 campaign, and it’s clear the school and surrounding entities are doing everything in their power to get prepared for the July 1 move.
The college’s athletic department made the announcement Tuesday they have brought in $159 million over the past fiscal year of 2023-24. SMU originally announced they were joining the ACC in Sept. 2023, becoming effective in 2024. Over the next week, the Mustangs athletic department brought in a crazy $100 million, just like that. (RELATED: Big 12 In Talks With Allstate To Do One Of The Stupidest Things Ever In The Name Of Money: REPORT)
In total, SMU received four eight-figure donations, 35 seven-figure donations, 82 six-figure donations and over 4,800 members from their “Mustang Club” also contributed.
Mustangs football had an elite season in 2023, compiling an 11-3 record and an undefeated 9-0 tally in the AAC. Since 2019, the team has won at least seven games in every season. Their current head coach is Rhett Lashlee.
With its men’s basketball program, SMU has also seen recent success there, too. Coached by Rob Lanier, the Mustangs had 20 wins in the 2023-24 season, and they’ve had 20+ win campaigns six times in the last ten years. They had two appearances in NCAA March Madness during that run, with one coming in 2014-15 and the other in 2016-17.
SMU Athletics Celebrates Record-Breaking Fundraising Year Heading Into The ACChttps://t.co/GsJSrWYGB0 pic.twitter.com/gHN0m1jDmh
— SMU Athletics (@SMUMustangs) June 18, 2024
You better believe I’m gonna have my eyes on Dallas this upcoming school year! Oh, the entertainment!
