Just last week, the SMU football team was picked to finish atop the Western Division of Conference USA and then beat out the University of Central Florida for the C-USA Championship. Now, Athlon Sports has placed the Mustangs at #49 in their preseason rankings.

As the predicted champion of Conference USA, the Mustangs are the highest ranked C-USA team with UCF close behind at #51. SMU is returning 18 starting players, including quarterback Kyle Padron, now in third year directing the Run N' Shoot offense of head coach June Jones. Last year, Padron threw for 3,828 years, which was an SMU school-record and good for 16th in the nation, and 31 touchdowns.

Padron will have plenty of help on offense with the return of his entire offensive line, as well as starting running back Zach Line, who ran for more yards last season than any running back in SMU history except for Eric Dickerson. The departure of Aldrick Robinson leaves a void at wide receiver but Jones is confident that Darius Johnson and Cole Beasley can make up the difference.

Defensively, SMU returns several of their top playmakers, including defensive linemen Taylor Thompson and Margus Hunt. Furthermore, the already strong linebacker corps gets a big upgrade in Davon Moreland, who is one of the most highly touted recruits that the Mustangs have had in years.

The Mustangs will have to improve their special teams, especially in the punt game, which has been on the decline ever since Thomas Morstead left the school and was drafted by the New Orleans Saints. SMU was ranked #103 in the punting game last season.

Still, this has been a remarkable turnaround from four years ago when June Jones first joined SMU. If they're predicting conference championships after just four years, who knows what could happen on Jones' 10th anniversary with the Mustangs?