CFB Top 50, #16: 2025 SMU Mustangs

by
Bracket Yard
August 7, 2025

College football is in two and a half weeks, and you bet you’ll see the 2025 SMU Mustangs, next on the CFB Top 50 countdown at 16.

The Mustangs have been loving life in the ACC so far. After all, in their first season amongst the coastal elites, they made the College Football Playoff. An impartial observer of the program might say “good for you,” as this was for sure their best season since the program was administered the “death penalty” back in the 1980s. Consecutive 11-win seasons and now a top 15 ranking put SMU back on the map, but can they repeat it?

2025 SMU Mustangs Basic Facts

Head Coach: Rhett Lashlee (4th season)

2025 Conference: Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC)

2024 Record: 11-3 (8-0), ACC runner-up

Final Resolution of Last Season: Lost in College Football Playoff 1st Round, ranked 12th (AP)

2024 Scoring Offensive Rank: T-7th (36.5)

2024 Scoring Defensive Rank: T-32nd (22.1)

SMU Key Additions and Subtractions

IN – Jeffrey M’Ba, defensive tackle. Transferred from Purdue.

IN – Yamir Knight, wide receiver. Transferred from James Madison.

OUT – Elijah Roberts, defensive end. Drafted by Tampa Bay in 5th round of 2025 Draft.

OUT – Brashard Smith, running back. Drafted by Kansas City in 7th round of 2025 Draft.

Best Game on the Schedule in 2025

October 18 at Clemson. A rematch of last year’s ACC title game, which might also be a preview of this year’s. What else is there to say?

2025 SMU Mustangs: Outlook

SMU will once again send Kevin Jennings out at the quarterback position, and given the kind of season he had in 2024, this is good news. The 11 interceptions were a little high relative to his contemporaries, but SMU will take another 23 passing touchdowns and five more on the ground out of him. He was an ACC 3rd-Team quarterback, and considering one of the two guys ahead of him was literally the number one pick in the draft, that’s not bad. He will have to find a few new targets this year, but Jordan Hudson should get a bunch of targets, as should transfer Yamir Knight, who may be short at 5-8, but he was a very solid player for JMU.

Jennings’ backfield partner, Brashard Smith, was drafted in the spring. That’s a lot of offensive yardage coming off the stat sheet. Derrick McFall will get some carries, as will transfer TJ Harden from UCLA. Between the two of them, the hope is that they can come close to replicating Smith’s output.

While SMU is coming off of a great offensive season, the defense was good, but not rated as highly. They’ll miss Kobe Wilson, but Isaiah Nwokobia (safety) is preseason all-ACC. Let him do his thing and the defense should be fine, though they will be tested by teams like Clemson and Miami.

SMU has some Texas-sized non-conference games against Baylor and TCU, neither of which will be easy. Then, it’s a manageable ACC schedule, except that their toughest game is on the road in Clemson, South Carolina. We do not expect that many teams will roll into University Park and win on SMU’s turf, at least.