To keep it short and sweet, the squad walking out for SMU in 2017 is the best team fans have seen for the past 6 years. The Mustangs have had a long, long path to retool and this is finally the year that Chad Morris and his staff's effort will translate on the record book.

14 of SMU's starters (on the most recent depth chart) are acquisitions from the Morris staff and despite a young secondary, I think the defense is in better shape than even Coach Van Malone has cautiously estimated. Even though the secondary is filled with less experienced players than in years previous, they've all seen game action, they all go up against one of the best wide receiver groups in the conference day after day in practice and they're all more athletic than what the Mustang's have had in the past (so expect to see less deep-ball TDs from opponents).

The offense is in great shape with plenty of options at QB (hopefully an option separates himself promptly as the clear leader), healthy and experienced running backs, stud receivers (and tight ends, really excited about Epps) and a sturdy-enough offensive line.

But no matter how much talent the Mustangs have, they'll still have to BATTLE every single away game this season. If you look at the schedule, it's hard to see a single sure-win out of TCU, Houston, Cincinnati, Navy or Memphis.

SMU does however come off of a bye week before playing Cincinnati so it's possible that they have fresh energy heading into the second half of the season if they're sitting on a 4-2 record.

W-L Prediction: 7-5, bowl game.

A lot has changed since SMU last made a bowl game in 2012. For the first time since 2013, the Mustangs have a real expectation of postseason play and the schedule to facilitate it.

No more Baylor game, no more A&M game and much softer start to the season. I'm no gambler but surely SMU will be favored to win in four of its first five games and if the results are chalk, SMU could be 4-1 going into September. Only the game at TCU is a true underdog test.

The rest of the schedule is stern but not overwhelming. Will Houston be as good as years prior? Is Navy still an elite team with so many players lost to graduation? As for the Mustangs themselves the expectations should be high on the offensive side of the ball.

Whether it is Hicks or Peavey or Gillins throwing passes, they will have plenty of support at the skill positions. The receiving corps might be the best in the conference with Courtland Sutton, James Proche and newcomer Trey Quinn and running backs Braedon West and Ke'Mon Freemon are each more than capable of shouldering the load on the ground.

Defensively, SMU has more questions but the defensive line is a bedrock from which the rest of the defense will benefit. If Justin Lawler and crew can get to the quarterback, it will take a lot of pressure off the young secondary and linebacker group. If SMU can avoid major letdown games against teams like UConn and Tulane, it should put itself in position to win more games than it has since the beginning of the June Jones era.

The defense might not be quite good enough to pick up the offense if that unit has a bad day but with how much skill is back on that side of the ball that should not happen often. Expect SMU to simply outgun some teams this year.

W-L Prediction: 7-5, bowl game.

Chad Morris has the Mustangs in a really good place entering year three.

This SMU team is miles ahead of the 2014 team that was so bad it made June Jones fire himself—and it's almost hard to believe that was only three seasons ago. There's quite a bit of talent on this team and SMU should be able to win enough games to reach the postseason. Lack of depth at some positions might be the Ponies' only limiting factor—a key injury here, a key injury there, and SMU's aspirations for the year might get flattened. Tempo can fix a lot of problems, but it can't fix 5+ years of poor recruiting overnight... or in three years.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves—SMU is a 6-6 football team. In seasons past, the Mustangs were always missing one or two pieces that prevented them from being successful. Now they have those pieces, but I still predict that this SMU team will be more enigmatic than ever.

And that's partially due to how the 2017 schedule is constructed. Front-loaded with games at home against winnable, low RPI opponents, SMU could very well begin the year 5-2 before hitting a wall.

SMU right now seems good enough to win the games it should, but not good enough to pull out many surprises. What's that expression about taking things with a grain of salt? Yeah, that's what this season is going to be like.

W-L Prediction: 7-5 (8-4 is also doable)