SMU’s ACC Move Sparked a Historic Athletics Boom in Dallas

Thirty years after SMU left the Southwest Conference and disappeared from college athletics’ biggest stage, the Mustangs are no longer asking whether they belong among the power programs.

They’re building a case that the ACC needed them just as much as they needed the ACC.

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Since joining the conference on July 1, 2024, SMU athletics has produced one of the most explosive two-year stretches in school history.

The Mustangs reached the College Football Playoff, appeared in the ACC Football Championship Game, returned to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament and collected championships across multiple sports.

The results have gone well beyond football.

SMU won the 2025 ACC men’s soccer title, reached its first NCAA volleyball Sweet 16 and celebrated an individual national championship from diver Luke Sitz.

Women’s golf won an NCAA regional and finished 12th nationally, while Trevor Svajda reached the NCAA singles championship match and climbed to No. 1 in the ITA rankings.

Across its first two ACC seasons, SMU produced 79 All-ACC selections, 21 All-America honors, seven conference Coach of the Year awards and postseason appearances from 25 programs.

That isn’t a cute adjustment period. It’s a takeover.

“Our first two years in the ACC have confirmed what the SMU community always believed was possible,” athletic director Damon Evans said.

The conference move also transformed SMU’s national reach. Mustang events appeared more than 400 times across ESPN platforms, the ACC Network and The CW.

Football alone attracted more than 25 million television viewers over two seasons.

SMU’s social media audience has increased by more than 50 percent, while men’s basketball engagement surged 741 percent during the 2025-26 campaign.

The impact has spilled across campus. Undergraduate applications have risen nearly 60 percent, and SMU is preparing to welcome a record freshman class of more than 1,800 students. Nearly half of the incoming students graduated in the top 10 percent of their high school classes.

Fans have responded just as aggressively. Football set school records for season-ticket sales and average attendance in 2025, with ACC home games drawing crowds above Ford Stadium’s listed capacity.

Money is following the momentum, too. A $50 million commitment helped launch the Boulevard Society, while SMU expanded its NIL program, media production and revenue partnerships.

The Mustangs spent decades trying to recover the national relevance they lost with the Southwest Conference.

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Two years in the ACC changed the entire conversation.

SMU has already proven it belongs. The next mission is far more ambitious ... turning Dallas into the home of one of college athletics’ most powerful departments.