Good team, but they play an extremely easy schedule. No top ten teams and barely any top twenty. For example, their last 5 opponents: Evansville, SWMS, Bradley, Eastern IL, Vanderbilt. Of course, that's their conference, but that's why they have such a good record. They always leave the NCAA tourney early despite good seeds. BRF
I don't know that I would say they lose early all the time despite good seeds. They have, since 1999, gone out in the: 2nd round (to UAB - who then lost 3-2 to Nat'l runner up Santa Clara 3-2), NCAA Semis (To National Champ UConn) Quarters (to St. John's who then lost to runner up Indiana in 2OT) Third round (to Boston College - who then lost to Creighton - a team SMU beat 3-1 that year) First round (#9 Santa Clara 1-1 PKs - who then made it to the Nat'l semis) Clearly they haven't gone out early as the last poster indicated (especially when you look at the fact that only in 2002 did the tournament expand from 32 teams to 40 teams) SMU is a traditional power in college soccer - I would hope most Indiana fans know that as well. SMU is a team with a lot of talent and skill. They play a very attractive brand of soccer (for college anyway) and can beat anyone on any day.
You're either clueless or an idiot. This year, SMU has played: Kentucky (11-4-1, ranked in most of the polls) Stanford (7-5-5, ranked most of the season, 2002 national runner-up) Saint Louis (8-7-1, ranked when they played, perennial NCAA Tourney team) Florida International (10-4, ranked in most polls, perennial NCAA Tourney team) Penn State (9-3-7, ranked in all the polls, perennial NCAA Tourney team) Now, I grant you that their conference isn't the strongest, but they've still faced: Creighton (12-4, ranked in all the polls, perennial NCAA Tourney team) Tulsa (10-5-2, ranked at times this season) Southwest Missouri State (11-6-2, ranked earlier this season) www.Soccerratings.com, as of Monday, rated their strength of schedule at 1640. Those same folks rated your team, Indiana's, strength of schedule at 1624. And, this ain't golf; higher is better. Of the team's in SR's Top 25, 1640 was the ninth toughest Strength of Schedule. As for your assertion that SMU doesn't do well in the post-season, again you need to know your history. In the last 19 seasons, SMU has made the quarterfinals TEN times and advanced to the semis once. I'll conceded that a 1-9 record in the quarters isn't very good, but they still got to the quarters, and did so consistently.(1985, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1997, 2000, and 2001.) Chek your facts before you spout off because not doing so makes you look like a dumbass.