Schedule Sunday: Ranking every game on the 2023 SMU schedule, No. 4

Every Sunday from now leading up to the season I will be ranking every game on the 2023 SMU football schedule, counting down from No. 12 all the way to the best game this season.

Depending on how the season plays out, these could change, but this is a preseason look at the games, taking into account what they mean for the teams, past meetings between the teams and other factors.

No. 12: Prairie View A&M

No. 11: Navy

No. 10: Louisiana Tech

No. 9: Charlotte

No. 8: Temple

No. 7: Rice

No. 6: Tulsa

No. 5: UNT

Now the No. 5 game on SMU's schedule:

THURSDAY OCT. 12, 6:30 P.M., ESPN

While some of the games rose on the list because they are regular opponents with at least some form of rivalry built up, this one is high on the list because it is a rare meeting between the two teams.

SMU and East Carolina have met just nine times with the Pirates holding a 5-4 series advantage. The last meeting came in 2020, with ECU winning 52-38. The Mustangs had won the previous two meetings — 55-31 and 59-51 — in 2016 and 2019.

After some relatively close, relatively low scoring games in the first three meetings, offense has been the name of the game since. The winning team has scored at least 45 points in the last six games between the two and at least 51 points in the last three.

READ MORE: SMU picked third in new-look AAC preseason poll

Early in the conference season last year it looked like it could be the Pirates playing spoiler and finding a way into the American Athletic Conference championship game. They opened the season with a one-point loss to No. 13 NC State and close games would be a theme. ECU lost its conference opener by three points to Navy in double-overtime. Wins against Memphis came by two points in quadruple-OT and Temple came by three points. There was also a two-point loss at Cincinnati.

The Pirates will have a very different look on offense this year though without 1,000-yard receivers Isaiah Winstead and CJ Johnson, 1,400-yard rusher Keaton Mitchell or quarterback Holton Ahlers who threw for just under 14,000 yards and 97 touchdowns over five seasons in Greenville. SMU will be going through similar changes as the nation's leading receiver Rashee Rice is gone, so is record-setting quarterback Tanner Mordecai and there will be new players getting a majority of the carries out of the backfield.

The similarities don't stop there. SMU will be turning to it's No. 1 all-time recruit at quarterback in Preston Stone while Mason Garcia is ECU's second-highest recruit battling for the starting job. ECU got it's highest recruit ever in this class with cornerback Antione Jackson. At receiver the Pirates added their No. 5 all-time recruit with Nate Branch and running back Javious Bond is the eighth-highest recruit. SMU now has four four-star receivers on its roster along with a five-star and two four-star running backs, providing talent to replace the production.

HOFEDITZ: My preseason AAC football poll and why

Both teams will face a team that made the College Football Playoff during nonconference play as the Pirates go to Michigan to open the season with SMU going to TCU, which won that matchup to reach the national championship game, in the fourth game of the season. They will both also open AAC play against a conference newcomer, in Texas, with the Mustangs hosting Charlotte and ECU traveling to Rice on Sept. 30 before their Oct. 12 meeting.

A lot of the excitement of this game will be determined by how the teams open the season. If ECU can put up a good fight against Michigan, beat in-state rival App State and handle business in the other games and enter 4-1 along with the Mustangs showing well against Oklahoma and TCU, possibly winning one or both, and entering with a similar 4-1 or even a respectable 3-2 record, there could be plenty to play for.

It would also be the difference between being 1-1 or 2-0 in conference play and while the Pirates have to play both Tulane and UTSA, it's likely the second-toughest conference game for the Mustangs, meaning a win could put SMU in a very good spot early on.

Jordan Hofeditz covers SMU for Pony Stampede and 247Sports. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow Jordan on Twitter at @jhofeditz.