SMU Football 2026 Schedule: Full Breakdown, Season Outlook

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SMU played for the 2024 ACC Championship, came this close to playing for it in 2025, and it has the schedule to make a push to play for it in 2026.

It starts big, ends big, and in the middle, there are a whole bunch of winnable games to make the SMU season a good one.

Breaking Down SMU’s 2026 Football Schedule

Jan 2, 2026; San Diego, CA, USA; SMU Mustangs head coach Rhett Lashlee gestures against the Arizona Wildcats in the first half during the Holiday Bowl at Snapdragon Stadium.© Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Good

Saving the teams SMU misses for the section below, there’s a lot to like in the middle with a strange run of home games.

The Mustangs go a full six weeks without going on the road, and they only travel once from the last week of September until the Saturday before Thanksgiving.

The Bad

At Florida State to start the season, at Louisville as the next ACC game, and closing with at Notre Dame, and at Stanford. This might be a strong SMU team, but anything better than 2-2 will be big.

What ACC Teams SMU Will Miss

Clemson, Duke, Georgia Tech, Miami, North Carolina, NC State, Pitt.

There’s no Miami this time around – no worry about a revenge game. There’s no Clemson, Duke, and all the rest of the teams off the ACC schedule are terrific

SMU’s Best and Worst Case Scenarios in 2026

Best Case: Win the first and last games

Going to Notre Dame is rough, and dealing with the road date at Louisville will be a problem. However, SMU beats FSU, takes down Stanford, and owns Dallas and all the home games.

With a win over Syracuse – and those bookend ACC season wins – and the Mustangs are in the ACC Championship.

Worst Case: There’s a slip or two in the middle

The Mustangs drop the date with the Seminoles, lose at Notre Dame late, and trip up a few games in Gerald J. Ford against Virginia, Virginia Tech, and/or Wake Forest.

SMU Football 2026 Schedule

Sept 7 at Florida State
Sept 12 UC Davis
Sept 19 at Louisville
Sept 26 Missouri State
Oct 3 Boston College
Oct 10 OPEN DATE
Oct 17 Virginia
Oct 24 Cal
Oct 31 at Syracuse
Nov 7 Virginia Tech
Nov 14 Wake Forest
Nov 21 at Notre Dame
Nov 28 at Stanford

Games That Will Decide SMU’s Season

1. at Florida State, Sept. 7. Win this, and if the team is good enough to think about playing in the ACC Championship, it’s smooth sailing to …

2. at Notre Dame, Nov. 21. This actually shouldn’t matter that much – considering winning the ACC Championship will be what really matters, and getting the trip to the College Football Playoff – but it would be a prestige win.

3. at Louisville, Sept. 19. Win or lose at Florida State, this will be the last game the Mustangs will be the underdogs in until Notre Dame.

This story was originally published by College Football News on Jan 27, 2026, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add College Football News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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