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SMU enters Baylor matchup ranked in Coaches Poll, AP Top 25

On3 imageby: Billy Embody09/02/25BillyEmbody
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(Photo: Matt Visinsky)

The SMU Mustangs are ranked No. 16 in the Coaches Poll and No. 17 in the AP Top 25 released on Tuesday. Ahead of Saturday’s matchup against Baylor, who is receiving votes in the Coaches Poll, the polls were revealed after a wild Week 1.

Joining SMU as ACC programs ranked in the Coaches Poll are Miami (No. 7), Clemson (No. 8) and Florida State (No. 19). Louisville, Georgia Tech and Duke are receiving votes. In the AP Top 25, it’s Miami at No. 5, Clemson at No. 8 and Florida State at No. 14. Georgia Tech, Louisville, Duke and Virginia are receiving votes.

SMU’s Week 4 opponent, TCU, is also receiving votes. With a bye then Abilene Christian, it’s tough to see the Frogs sitting in the Top 25 when they host the Mustangs for the Iron Skillet.

SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee is looking forward to the matchup on Saturday. Lashlee grew up watching the Southwest Conference, where Baylor and SMU were rivals for many years.

“I’ll say, yeah, our game is losing some of the regionality because of the TV. I know to our fans it matters. I may be wrong. I don’t think we beat Baylor since 1986,” Lashlee said. “They came here in ’14 or ’16. They got after us pretty good back then, right? I mean, this is a new SMU, it’s a new day, but we haven’t beaten Baylor since anybody on our team has even remotely thought of being alive, you know what I mean? So, the games matter to our fans because the Southwest Conference, we all know the history of what the Southwest Conference was. So that is important.

“Then you just think proximity from recruiting a lot of these guys. I always look at it from a player standpoint when you have these games, whether it’s us and TCU, us and Baylor, us and Houston. It’s more that these guys all grew up playing together and probably were all recruited by similar schools. I think that adds to it. I bet our guys have a lot of friends on that team and vice versa and same thing in coaching. Like I said, I think the world of Dave Aranda. I think the world of Jake Spavital. But on Saturday, we both including them wanna win.”

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