SMU Mustangs: Most Surprising Team This Season

Each college basketball season brings about story lines that fans can get behind and teams they fall in love with, and this season America’s team has to be the SMU Mustangs. The Mustangs have been irrelevant for some time now in the college basketball realm, but coaching legend Larry Brown has this team poised to make a run in the NCAA tournament come March. Brown has turned around programs throughout his career at both the college and NBA levels and won championships in the process, but the job he has done with this SMU team has to top the list.

SMU continued its winning ways when the team beat Rutgers after the game was postponed one day. The Mustangs produced another solid performance with Nic Moore and Nick Russell leading the way to a 77-65 victory in Piscataway. While Moore recorded 21 points, three rebounds and five assists, Russell tallied 16 points, three assists and five rebounds in the contest. The Mustangs improve to 20-5 on the season and sit third in the American Athletic Conference at the moment, but how much longer can this team fly under the radar?

The Mustangs have now won nine of the team’s last 10 games including two victories over top-25 teams during the stretch, so can the Mustangs be a real threat come March?

SMU will no longer be able to thrive off the underdog role this season because of the team’s recent track record, but with the talent on the floor and a legend on the bench the Mustangs can not be written off down the stretch. At this point, SMU has a realistic chance of playing in its backyard in the final four, and who would have predicted that at the beginning of the season?

Greg Douglas is a College Basketball writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on twitter @thegpd93 or add him to your Google Network.