SMU is back in a major conference -- if you want to call the American Athletic Conference that -- and to celebrate, the football team's jerseys will turn back the clock 30 years.
On October 5 against Rutgers, the Mustangs will rock the throwback jerseys in honor of the 1983 team featuring Eric Dickerson and Craig James.
No, wait, that was the 1982 team. The 1983 team went 10-2 and went to the Sun Bowl, a year after the 1982 team was 11-0-1. To emphasize the 1983 point even further, tickets will be available for $19.83 for the game.
Why the difference? Well, that 1983 team didn't have either running back. SMU was banned from football for the 1987 after an NCAA investigation into a pay-for-play scheme that had been in place at the university. Soon after the season was stopped, Dickerson admitted that he received money at SMU. And in his final two seasons at the school, SMU was on probation for recruiting violations.
There's also a need for distinction because unlike college football today, where teams may not wear the same jersey more than once in a season, uniforms were largely unchanged in the 1980s. (And the whole evening will be an 80s theme.) Though at the same time, given how monstrous the death penalty given to SMU was, throwback uniforms aren't going to be something that trigger long-forgotten memories.
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