| 1955–56 SMU Mustangs men's basketball | |
|---|---|
Southwest Conference champion  | |
NCAA tournament, Final Four  | |
| Conference | Southwest Conference | 
| Ranking | |
| Coaches | No. 6 | 
| AP | No. 7 | 
| Record | 25–4 (12–0 SWC) | 
| Head coach | 
  | 
| Assistant coach | Bob Prewitt (7th season) | 
| Home arena | Perkins Gymnasium | 
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 7 SMU | 12 | – | 0 | 1.000 | 25 | – | 4 | .862 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arkansas | 9 | – | 3 | .750 | 11 | – | 12 | .478 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rice | 8 | – | 4 | .667 | 19 | – | 5 | .792 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas | 5 | – | 7 | .417 | 12 | – | 10 | .545 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Baylor | 3 | – | 9 | .250 | 6 | – | 17 | .261 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas A&M | 3 | – | 9 | .250 | 6 | – | 18 | .250 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TCU | 2 | – | 10 | .167 | 4 | – | 20 | .167 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rankings from AP Poll | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 1955–56 SMU Mustangs men's basketball team represented Southern Methodist University as a member of the Southwest Conference during the 1955–56 NCAA men's basketball season. The team was led by head coach Doc Hayes and played their home games at Perkins Gymnasium in Dallas, Texas for the final season (SMU Coliseum opened in December 1956). Playing out of the Midwest region, the Mustangs made a run to the Final Four of the NCAA tournament – the first, and only, in program history. In the National semifinals, SMU lost to the eventual National champions, San Francisco, 86–68, in what was the Dons 54th consecutive victory.[1] The Mustangs closed out the season with a loss to Temple in the consolation game to finish with a record of 25–4 (12–0). Three of the team's four losses came to Final Four participants.
Roster
| 1955–56 SMU Mustangs men's basketball team | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||
  | 
 
 
 
 
  | ||||||||||||||||
Schedule and results
| Date time, TV  | 
Rank# | Opponent# | Result | Record | Site   city, state  | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular season | |||||||||||
| December 1, 1955* | 
North Texas State | W 82–67 | 1–0 | 
Perkins Gym  Dallas, TX  | |||||||
| December 3, 1955* | 
Austin College | W 94–56 | 2–0 | 
Perkins Gym  Dallas, TX  | |||||||
| December 6, 1955* | 
Texas Wesleyan | W 65–42 | 3–0 | 
Perkins Gym  Dallas, TX  | |||||||
| December 9, 1955* | 
at No. 4 Iowa | L 62–80 | 3–1 | 
Iowa Field House  Iowa City, IA  | |||||||
| December 10, 1955* | 
at No. 20 Minnesota | W 82–81 OT | 4–1 | 
Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN  | |||||||
| December 12, 1955* | 
at Wisconsin | W 75–62 | 5–1 | 
Wisconsin Field House  Madison, WI  | |||||||
| December 17, 1955* | 
No. 18 Kansas | W 81–61 | 6–1 | 
Perkins Gym  Dallas, TX  | |||||||
| December 21, 1955* | 
at Kansas | L 58–62 | 6–2 | 
Allen Fieldhouse  Lawrence, KS  | |||||||
| December 22, 1955* | 
at Wichita | W 85–67 | 7–2 | 
University of Wichita Field House  Wichita, KS  | |||||||
| December 28, 1955* | 
vs. Arkansas  SWC Christmas Tournament  | 
W 67–62 | 8–2 | 
Tudor Fieldhouse  Houston, TX  | |||||||
| December 29, 1955* | 
vs. Southern California  SWC Christmas Tournament  | 
W 70–64 | 9–2 | 
Tudor Fieldhouse  Houston, TX  | |||||||
| Dec 30, 1955* | 
at No. 17 Rice  SWC Christmas Tournament  | 
W 76–73 OT | 10–2 | 
Tudor Fieldhouse  Houston, TX  | |||||||
| Jan 4, 1956 | 
No. 18 Rice | W 87–65 | 11–2 (1–0)  | 
Perkins Gym  Dallas, TX  | |||||||
| Jan 7, 1956 | 
at Texas | W 66–63 | 12–2 (2–0)  | 
Gregory Gym  Austin, TX  | |||||||
| January 10, 1956 | 
Texas A&M | W 97–68 | 13–2 (3–0)  | 
Perkins Gym  Dallas, Texas  | |||||||
| January 28, 1956 | 
No. 18 | Texas Christian | W 105–64 | 14–2 (4–0)  | 
Perkins Gym  Dallas, Texas  | ||||||
| January 31, 1956 | 
No. 17 | at Baylor | W 92–72 | 15–2 (5–0)  | 
Heart O' Texas Fair Complex  Waco, Texas  | ||||||
| February 4, 1956 | 
No. 17 | at Arkansas | W 58–53 | 16–2 (6–0)  | 
Barnhill Arena  Fayetteville, AR  | ||||||
| Feb 7, 1956 | 
No. 15 | Texas | W 109–96 | 17–2 (7–0)  | 
Perkins Gym  Dallas, TX  | ||||||
| Feb 28, 1956 | 
No. 9 | Rice | W 89–75 | 22–2 (12–0)  | 
Perkins Gym  Dallas, TX  | ||||||
| NCAA Tournament | |||||||||||
| March 13, 1956* | 
No. 7 | vs. Texas Tech  First round  | 
W 68–67 | 23–2 | 
University of Wichita Field House  Wichita, KS  | ||||||
| March 16, 1956* | 
No. 7 | vs. Houston  Midwest Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen  | 
W 89–74 | 24–2 | 
Allen Fieldhouse  Lawrence, KS  | ||||||
| March 17, 1956* | 
No. 7 | vs. No. 11 Oklahoma City  Midwest Regional final – Elite Eight  | 
W 84–63 | 25–2 | 
Allen Fieldhouse  Lawrence, KS  | ||||||
| March 22, 1956* | 
No. 7 | vs. No. 1 San Francisco  National semifinal – Final Four  | 
L 68–86[1] | 25–3 | 
McGaw Hall  Evanston, IL  | ||||||
| March 23, 1956* | 
No. 7 | vs. No. 15 Temple  Consolation  | 
L 81–90 | 25–4 | 
McGaw Hall  Evanston, Illinois  | ||||||
*Non-conference game.  #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.  MW=Midwest. All times are in Eastern Standard Time.  | |||||||||||
Rankings
| Week | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Final | 
| AP | Not released | — | — | — | — | — | — | 19 | 18 | 17 | 15 | 12 | 12 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 
| Coaches | 18 т | — | — | 12 | 19 т | 10 т | 7 | 8 т | 9 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | Not released | 
Awards and honors
References
- 1 2 "54TH IN ROW WON BY SAN FRANCISCO; Dons Beat S.M.U., 86 to 68". The New York Times. March 23, 1956. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
 - ↑ "1957–58 SMU Mustangs Roster and Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
 - ↑ "2021-22 SMU Mustangs Men's Basketball Almanac – Results" (PDF). Southern Methodist University Athletics. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
 - ↑  
- ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 643–644. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
 
 - ↑ "1955-56 College Basketball Polls". Sports Reference. Retrieved December 30, 2021.