UNIVERSITY PARK -- You could feel the the big question looming over everyone affiliated with the SMU football program after its breakthrough season ended with a 37-20 win over Tulane Saturday at Gerald J. Ford Stadium.

Everyone wants to know what the team's reward will be after smashing Pony Express records and doing the 1982 team one better by defending home-field advantage all season long, becoming the first team since 1968 to get the job done. But the answer isn't coming this week with the conference championship games still a week away.

That allowed players like senior running back Xavier Jones an opportunity to debrief the season it has been. He helped step on the Green Wave with two touchdowns and 125 yards on 18 carries and, without a clear 13th opponent on the schedule, there was just the present.