A postseason ban. A coach’s suspension. Player injuries and suspensions. Mid-year attrition. Another player’s abrupt departure. Those are the roadblocks SMU has encountered just this season, all of them occurring in a span of just over three months. It’s as much adversity as any college basketball team has faced all year. But through all of it, SMU sits at 14-0 on the season and one of only two undefeated teams left in the country. If the adversity was a test from the college basketball gods, SMU aced it.
When presented with a seven-point deficit with 3:40 left, teams have to focus and fight off thoughts like “we’re finished” or “we’re not coming back from this one.