Ranking SMU’s 2026 football matchups

After two years in the conference, SMU has quickly established itself as a perennial contender in the ACC. Year three in the ACC is also year three of quarterback Kevin Jennings at the helm, potentially inspiring a make-or-break mindset for head coach Rhett Lashlee and his staff.

The schedule has added oddities thanks to the new nine-game ACC schedule, as well as three straight flex games in the back half of the season. Additionally, the Mustangs take on Notre Dame in South Bend for the first time since 1989.

Here are SMU’s 12 games ranked by importance, intrigue and entertainment value.

12. SMU vs UC Davis (Sept. 12)

There’s not much to say about this one. UC Davis is SMU’s one FCS opponent, and serves more as a buffer between two competitive ACC games to open the season. UC Davis is among the better FCS schools, posting a 9-4 record in 2025. Granted, the Aggies did play Washington and lost to 2025, so their chances against SMU are minimal.

11. SMU vs Boston College (Oct. 3)

Boston College was downright uncompetitive in the ACC last season, going 2-10. SMU has played Boston College every year it’s been in the conference, making it something of a small in-conference rivalry (albeit a lopsided one). SMU took care of business against the Eagles in 2025, winning 45-13 on the road.

To make things worse for Boston College, 29 players left in the transfer portal, including dynamic running back Turbo Richard. One player they did add is former SMU linebacker Justin Medlock. With the 14th rated transfer portal class in the ACC, Boston College doesn’t pose much of a threat to SMU.

10. SMU at Syracuse (Oct. 30/31)

Similar to Boston College, Syracuse struggled in 2025, posting the worst conference record in the ACC. The Mustangs easily beat Syracuse 31-18 in 2025, but going on the road late in the season may provide an added challenge. Syracuse has knocked teams out of title contention before, such as its 42-38 win over the University of Miami in 2024, preventing the Hurricanes from facing SMU in the ACC Championship.

10. SMU vs Missouri State (Sept. 26)

Missouri State, a non-conference, non-Power Four opponent, gets the nod over multiple ACC teams for a few reasons. For one, SMU’s former offensive coordinator, Casey Woods, is the new head coach for the Bears, and has a reinvigorated staff around him. Woods was a fundamental part of building SMU’s high powered offense, leading the Mustangs to 32.2 points per game in the ACC in 2025. His homecoming will be a nice moment over the course of a long season.

Additionally, SMU is celebrating Family Weekend against Missouri State, ensuring that the stands will be packed and loud despite it not being an ACC game. Assuming the Bears don’t have a hidden, diehard fan base located in Dallas, the stands should be packed with red and blue for a fun game before the bulk of ACC play.

9. SMU at Stanford (Nov. 28)

A new coach saves Stanford from a similar fate to that of Syracuse or Boston College. Tavita Pritchard will start his first full year at the helm for the Cardinal, and also added a defensive coach from Boston College in Cory Robinson. GM Andrew Luck has made an emphasis of hiring coaches that have NFL coaching experience; it is still in the air as to how that will play out.

Stanford is the final game of the season, meaning that its result could have massive implications for playoff seeding or even a berth into the ACC Championship. Perhaps not the most competitive game, but certainly an important one.

7. SMU vs Virginia Tech (Nov. 6/7)

Another team that benefits from a coaching hire. James Franklin, who beat SMU as the head coach of Penn State in the 2024 playoffs, now leads a new-look Hokies team into Dallas. Franklin dominated the transfer portal, bringing lots of talent from Penn State while also making key pickups from schools such as Duke and Ohio State. Although Virginia Tech went 3-9, there is more than enough evidence to assume they could make a major jump in the standings in 2026.

6. SMU vs Wake Forest (Nov. 14)

Wake Forest is one of just two teams to defeat SMU in ACC regular season conference play. The Demon Deacons terrorized the SMU offense, allowing a meager 12 points and 246 yards of offense. The 2026 edition of Wake Forest is not the same team that beat SMU, however. Much of the starting lineup is gone, and Gio Lopez is now at quarterback. Lopez was below average at North Carolina, making him a less menacing opponent for the SMU secondary.

5. SMU at Louisville (Sept. 19)

Louisville is a great program, and one that suffered down the stretch in 2025 due to injury. Miller Moss is gone, but the Cardinals brought in transfer QB Lincoln Kienholz to fill the gap. Most importantly, they’re getting Isaac Brown back, who was one of the best running backs in the country before suffering a lower leg injury.

Add in the fact the SMU is playing Louisville in mid-September and on the road, this could be an extremely difficult test for the Mustangs. With that being said, SMU has beat Louisville two years in a row now, and the next early matchup has a bit more intrigue behind it.

4. SMU at Florida State (Sept. 7)

For the first time since 2008, SMU is opening the season with a conference matchup. It isn’t just any ACC matchup either– the Mustangs are stampeding into Tallahassee and into Doak Campbell Stadium to take on the Florida State Seminoles. Florida State disappointed many last year, completing a huge upset against Alabama early in the year before limping to a 5-7 record. Since the Mustangs joined the ACC, FSU has been 3-13 in conference play.

Despite that, an opening week matchup against the Seminoles in one of the most electric home stadiums in all of college football is a great way to start the season and a matchup that Jennings and the Mustangs cannot sleep on. Best of all, the game is a Monday night game, meaning a primetime TV slot for SMU.

3. SMU vs Virginia (Oct. 17)

Last year’s ACC runners-up come to the Hilltop in mid-October for SMU’s Homecoming game. The 2025 Homecoming game was a historic one, as SMU took down No. 10 Miami for one of the highest-ranked home wins in school history. Virginia may not enter this game as highly ranked as Miami did, but they will certainly pose one of the biggest threats of the entire season.

Virginia had a massive portal class– 29 players, to be exact– and has options to replace Chandler Morris at quarterback. They will certainly find themselves in ACC contention alongside SMU, making this a must-watch matchup.

2. SMU vs Cal (Oct. 23/24)

The Golden Bears, shockingly, became the biggest villains of the year for SMU fans in 2025. All SMU had to do in the season finale against Cal to clinch a second-straight ACC title berth was win. Instead, Cal shocked SMU, jumping to a 24-7 lead and then driving for a last-minute touchdown to crush the Mustangs’ postseason dreams.

Cal returns quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele and boasts the nation’s 14th best transfer portal class. SMU will absolutely want its revenge in this one, and the growing rivalry will ensure a packed crowd in Ford Stadium come late October.

1. SMU at Notre Dame (Nov. 21)

What else would be number one? Although SMU has rapidly reemerged on the national stage since 2023, a win against Notre Dame would truly thrust SMU back into the upper echelon of collegiate football programs, back to a level bordering the status of SMU’s Pony Express era.

Everything about the matchup screams primetime. A trip to South Bend on the second-to-last week of the season guarantees high stakes. Notre Dame finished 2025 ranked 10th in the AP Poll and could easily start higher than that in the preseason rankings. This is a game that no SMU fan is going to miss tuning in to.