The 1955–56 SMU Mustangs men's basketball team represented

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , prov ...

as a member of the

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma an ...

during the

1955–56 NCAA men's basketball season The 1955–56 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1955, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1956 NCAA basketball tournament championship game on March 24, 1956, at McGaw Hall in Eva ...

. The team was led by head coach

Doc Hayes E. O. "Doc" Hayes (1906 – February 26, 1973) was an American basketball coach. He served as head basketball coach at Southern Methodist University (SMU) from 1947 to 1967, during which time, his teams won eight Southwest Conference (SWC) titles ...

and played their home games at Perkins Gymnasium in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

for the final season (

SMU Coliseum Moody Coliseum is a 7,000-seat multi-purpose arena in University Park, Texas (an inner suburb of Dallas). The arena opened in 1956. It is home to the Southern Methodist University Mustangs basketball teams and volleyball team. It was also home ...

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 San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, 86–68, in what was the Dons 54th consecutive victory. The Mustangs closed out the season with a loss to

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

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

Schedule and results

, - !colspan=9 style=, Regular season , - !colspan=9 style=, NCAA Tournament

Rankings

Awards and honors

Jim Krebs James Krebs (September 8, 1935 – May 6, 1965) was an American basketball player. A 6'8" (2.03 m) power forward/center, he starred for the SMU Mustangs during the mid-1950s and later played with the Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA. ...

– All-American

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1955-56 SMU Mustangs men's basketball team SMU Mustangs men's basketball seasons SMU Mustangs NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Final Four seasons SMU SMU SMU