UNIVERSITY PARK, Texas — Let’s begin by establishing what this game was supposed to be for SMU.
It was supposed to be about a resounding win over a crosstown rival, North Texas, a club which SMU referred to all week as “that team from Denton.”
It was supposed to be about SMU flexing its recent exploits in recruiting Dallas, with the Mustangs intentionally donning their “Dallas” uniforms against a local foe.
And it was all supposed to happen against the backdrop of a week in which SMU was left out of the realignment shuffling with the Big 12.