College Basketball Preview: Can Wichita State Make a Good First Impression in the AAC?

Team on the Decline: SMU Mustangs

After an impressive 30-5 campaign that included a regular season and postseason conference championship, SMU pretty much has nowhere to go but down. Following a November 30th loss to Boise State, the Mustangs went 26-2 the rest of the way. Their two losses were by a combined three points, with the second one coming in heartbreaking fashion in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament.

SMU lost three of their top four leading scorers from a season ago in Sterling Brown and Ben Moore (both seniors) and now Celtics' forward Semi Ojeleye (a junior). The Mustangs' defense ranked 15th according to our metrics by allowing only 60 points per game, third in the NCAA.

It is not all gloom for SMU this season, though. They will be returning one of the most exciting players in the conference, junior guard Shake Milton. He shot an outstanding 42.3 percent from three last year and hopes to improve upon his 13 points per game now that he will be the focal point of the Mustangs' offense. They will also be welcoming USF transfer Jahmal McMurray after sitting out a season due to NCAA rules. He averaged 15.2 points per game as a freshman with the Bulls.

While an NCAA Tournament bid is not out of the question for SMU, it will be hard for them to replicate last season's level of success.