SMU was the only private school in the conference when it began operation as The American in 2013, but it was joined by Tulane and Tulsa a year later.

[citation needed] When the sanctions were handed down, SMU had only three players – all seniors about to graduate – receiving payments.

It took the Mustang football program almost a decade to recover from the effects of the scandal, the team not returning to a bowl game until 2009 or winning a conference title until 2023.

[10] The men's soccer team is a consistent national contender,[citation needed] including a recent[when?]

[citation needed] The 2015 team was given a postseason ban after multiple recruiting violations and unethical conduct under coach Josh Gregory.

The men's and women's teams have acquired 57 conference titles combined, and have a total of 91 NCAA National Championship appearances.

After The American dropped men's swimming & diving at the end of the 2022–23 school year, SMU joined the Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) for that sport.

SMU women's rowing achieved a program-best fourth-place finish at the 2018 American Athletic Conference championship under first year head coach Kim Cupini.

[11] At the 2019 championship, the first varsity eight won gold, breaking University of Central Florida's long winning streak in the event.

[14] The Dallas Equestrian Center (DEC) is the official stables where the team practices and hosts meets.

[16] Many of the team's members compete at NCA and NDA College Nationals held in Daytona Beach, Florida, where the squads placed first in 2006, 2008, 2009, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2021 in division 1A.

Members of the SMU Cheer and Pom Squads participate in community service events around campus and the Dallas area.

[18] Southern Methodist University fielded a varsity baseball team from 1919 until it was discontinued after the 1980 season for financial reasons.

[21] The SMU Board of Trustees on Friday approved an athletics committee recommendation to drop the school's successful men's track and field program, a move based on gender equity in 2004.

The program produced 81 All-Americans and 28 Olympians, including Michael Carter, who won seven NCAA shotput titles before winning a silver medal in the 1984 Olympics.

The mascot debuted in 1932, and since then a black Shetland pony, Peruna, has been present at every SMU home football game except for one.

[27] The SMU football program has also produced other professional football standouts, such as Don Meredith, Kyle Rote, Jerry Ball, Craig James and more recently Cole Beasley, Sterling Moore, Chris Banjo, Kenneth Acker and Taylor Thompson.