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SMU makes a statement, beats No. 17 UConn 74-65

To get an idea of where we are in college basketball in 2014, think about this: No. 17 UConn playing at SMU is a league game, one where the Huskies taking a 74-65 loss to the Mustangs probably isn’t an upset.

Let that sink in for a minute.

UConn has won three national titles and been to four Final Fours in the last 15 years. There are players on SMU’s basketball team that weren’t alive the last time that the Mustangs: a) made the tournament, and b) beat a ranked team at home, both of which happened in 1993. And, again, it probably wasn’t even an upset.

We’ve been over what’s plaguing the Huskies, so there’s really no need to rehash that conversation.

But what about the Mustangs?

How seriously do we have to take this team?

Think about it like this: this is a team with one of the nation’s most underrated guards in Nic Moore, a front line that features a trio of high-major big men -- Markus Kennedy, Yannick Moreira, Shawn Williams -- and has yet to get their most talented perimeter player, McDonalds All-American freshman Keith Frazier, into a rhythm.

I don’t think this group can win the American even when you factor in the Larry Brown Effect. I’m not betting against Louisville, Memphis or Cincinnati. But I do think it is fair to say that SMU can beat any team in this league on any given night. Those road trips to Dallas are not going to be the easy wins that they were during SMU’s Conference USA tenure.

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