DALLAS -- The Mustangs will have a chance to compete for a national championship this year.
About 12 hours after losing in the ACC Championship 34-31 to Clemson, SMU learned on the College Football Playoff selection show Sunday that it had punched its ticket to this year's expanded 12-team playoff as a No. 11 seed. Earning an at-large bid, the Mustangs will play No. 6 Penn State on the road at noon ET on Dec. 21.
SMU's 2024 playoff berth is its first since the College Football Playoff was invented in 2014. The playoff expanded from four teams to 12 ahead of this season, offering opportunities for more teams like SMU to secure a spot. Texas also earned a spot in the playoff, clinching the No. 5 seed and a home matchup against Clemson.
The Mustangs made a statement in their first season in the ACC this season, finishing 8-0 in conference play. While they could've secured an automatic bid as one of the four highest-ranked conference champions -- and a first-round bye -- with a win over Clemson in Saturday's title game, the Mustangs were also still in the running for an at-large bid.
There was a question about whether SMU could be jumped by a three-loss Alabama team not competing in the SEC Championship this weekend if it were to be blown out by Clemson.
SMU fell behind 24-7 at halftime after a disastrous start, but orchestrated a 17-point comeback to tie the game at 31-31. With 16 seconds remaining, two big plays put Clemson in field goal range, allowing the Tigers to knock down a 56-yarder to win.
SMU's ability to keep it close likely saved its playoff chances.
Keeping SMU in the playoff field also set an important precedent. Had the Mustangs been left out after being ranked No. 8 last week and passed by a team that did not play this week, it would've impacted how team see their conference championship games and likely led to teams opting out in the future. But the Mustangs' place in the playoff showed that even though they moved down in the rankings, the punishment isn't all that severe.
"It would be unprecedented. It would set a really bad precedent. It would break all the principles of what we've been told," SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee said after Saturday's loss. "We could've not showed up, and according to what we were told Tuesday night, we'd be in, so we showed up and competed our butts off."
SMU will now get the chance to again prove the committee made the right decision. The Mustangs still do not have any wins over teams currently ranked in the top 25. They did beat Louisville when it was ranked No. 22 and Pitt when it was No. 18.
But a win over No. 4-ranked team (sixth seed) in two weeks would change that.
SMU has claimed three national championships in its history (1935, 1981 and 1982), but in all three of those years, multiple teams were crowned champions by different selection systems. A championship this year would be SMU's first outright.
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