In the first year of the expanded, 12-team College Football Playoff, the SMU Mustangs will head to Happy Valley to take on the sixth seeded Penn State Nittany Lions in the first round on Dec. 21, forcing fans of the Texas university to travel more than 1,200 miles to take in the contest.
When the two teams kick off from Beaver Stadium at 11 a.m. Central time on Dec. 21, SMU will do so as an 8.5-point underdog on bet365, with a +260 moneyline on the ACC runners-up on a day that meteorologists from Accuweather.com are projecting to be a 36-degree, cloudy day in Central Pennsylvania. Yes - there is no Texas sports betting, but we at BetTexas will keep you up to date on all game lines at sportsbooks like bet365.
As the Texas team heads north to Pennsylvania in late December, BetTexas.com was curious to see how SMU has historically performed in an away game in temperatures lower than the average temperature in Dallas during that time of year.
Using Sports-Reference.com, we found the results of all away games SMU played in since 2015. Then, using Wunderground.com, we found the temperature for each of those games, eliminating all games that were at or above the average temperature in Dallas in November and December. Based on our research, SMU does not perform well in the cold, winning only three of the ten games that fit the criteria.
Can SMU Snap Cold Streak?
Win | Lose |
.300 | .700 |
Since 2015, SMU’s luck has run short in cold weather road games, with the Mustangs posting a .300 win percentage when the high temperature in those away contests is below the normal level in Dallas.
This year, the Mustangs have won five away games, doing so in Reno to open the season against Nevada, as well as playing in Louisville, Palo Alto, Durham and Charlottesville, with SMU going 5-0 in those contests.
Still, none of those contests were as cold as Beaver Stadium will be on Dec. 21, with SMU fans forced to brave the elements when the Mustangs enter hostile territory against the Nittany Lions in the first round of the CFP.
Luckily for SMU fans, the team has fared well away from the friendly confines of Gerald J. Ford Stadium this fall, with the first-year ACC program looking to extend that run of good play and good fortune in the school’s CFP debut later this month.
