SMU needs to win Saturday night to get in the playoff

SMU has been phenomenal playing in their first year in a power conference since the mid 90s, and now find themselves one game away from the 12-team playoff. It is rare to see a team move up from a non-power conference to a power one and find immediate success.

To put it in perspective, before this season the last power conference win at home for the Ponies was in 2010 or against Washington State.

Personally I believe SMU has done more than enough to get in this year's playoff field win or lose against Clemson Saturday night. I am a little concerned though that if the Tigers pull off the slight upset in Charlotte that the Mustangs will be included due to how the ACC is viewed by most.

At the end of the day, if it comes down to an at large bid for the final playoff spot between a two-loss SMU team and a three-loss loss Alabama team, the Crimson Tide would likely get the nod from the committee.

Rhett Lashlee is building something special in Dallas, but they haven't reached that level of getting the benefit of the doubt if they lose. This is a team that hasn't lost since September and has dominated most of their games since that time.

They have shown a championship mentality all season and have overcome several obstacles to remain perfect in conference play. This is far from a fluke situation as this team will become a contender year in and out in the ACC.

A win Saturday night fast tracks this team to a level they haven't see since the 1980s, and it will be very interesting to see what this team would do in the playoff field. I think they match up well with most of the current field and could very well make a deep run this year.

I think they are better than Clemson, but beating Dabo Swinney in a championship game is much easier said than done. Hopefully the committee does this SMU team right — win or lose — as they have done more than enough to be in this year's playoff field.

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