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1955–56 SMU Mustangs men's basketball
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	Doc Hayes (9th season);
Assistant coach	Bob Prewitt (7th season)
Home arena	Perkins Gymnasium
	Seasons ← 1954–55 1956–57 →

1955–56 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	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

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
C	32	Jim Krebs	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Jr	Webster Groves HS	Webster Groves, Missouri

Head coach

Doc Hayes

Assistant coach(es)

Bob Prewitt

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

^[2]

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.

^[3]

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked т = Tied with team above or below
	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

^[4]^[5]

Awards and honors

Jim Krebs – All-American

References

^ ^a ^b "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.

[ncaa-sf-1] "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.

[2] "1957–58 SMU Mustangs Roster and Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved December 30, 2021.

[3] "2021-22 SMU Mustangs Men's Basketball Almanac – Results" (PDF). Southern Methodist University Athletics. Retrieved December 30, 2021.

[ESPN-4] *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 643–644. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[5] "1955-56 College Basketball Polls". Sports Reference. Retrieved December 30, 2021.

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