UNIVERSITY PARK, Texas — Welcome to the American Athletic Conference, where there is only one ticket to relevancy and dozens of landmines to get there.
SMU understands that plight.
Its ticket to relevancy will be a game against Cincinnati on Nov. 20, a day that is shaping to be a potential landing spot for College GameDay.
It will also be a matchup, theoretically speaking, of two undefeated, top 15 teams and a preview of the conference championship game. SMU has not won a conference since The Death Penalty.
But before any of that can happen, SMU will have to wade through games against Houston, Memphis and UCF to even make a Cincinnati game relevant.