CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — SMU bet on itself when it made a bold bid to join the Atlantic Coast Conference — and it has paid off big time. Now the Mustangs are looking build on that momentum in Year 2. The Dallas-based school chose to forego nine years of media-rights distribution simply for the opportunity to move from the American Conference — where it won the conference championship in 2023 — into a Power Four conference.