PonyFans.com is proud to have 14-year-old Nate, who might want to be a sports writer, as a columnist. After two seasons of writing about the SMU football team, he now offers some thoughts about the first part of the SMU men's basketball team's 2014-15 season. Feel free to post comments and constructive criticism, ask him questions, and/or give suggestions for upcoming columns!

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Nate says that no player has been more important to the Mustangs in the early going than guard Nic Moore (photo by Pat Kleineberg).

So as SMU wraps up its non-conference schedule on December 29 at home against Midwestern State, we look at what they have done in the non-conference and how we have gotten to know the Mustangs, their future American Athletic Conference opponents and what they have done. The Mustangs are now 8-3 after a much-needed signature 11-point win over the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Maybe they get votes again after falling out of the Top 25 after one week, but at this point early in the season, it doesn’t really matter.

Yes, the Mustangs had a rough offseason. They lost coveted point guard Emmanuel Mudiay overseas, and Mustang forward Markus Kennedy was missed the first 10 games before rejoining the lineup against Michigan. He didn’t play a lot, but looked pretty good. He definitely will have a bigger role for the Mustangs than just the 10 minutes he played, as Larry Brown is probably just getting Kennedy’s feet wet. Without Kennedy, who dominated the boards last year, SMU ranked 95th in the nation in rebounds per game. I’d argue the most prevalent game in which the Mustangs needed Kennedy was at Gonzaga, SMU got dominated on the boards.

There are times when the Mustangs look really good, and there are times they look really sloppy (see a late blown lead against UC-Santa Barbara, although SMU pulled it out in overtime). The thing that I want to highlight is how SMU has dealt with adversity, whether it’s losing Kennedy, or losing Nic Moore midway through the UCSB game. SMU fought through a tough non-conference schedule, losing three of the four big games (Gonzaga, Indiana, Arkansas, Michigan). A pessimist could argue that the one win out of those four, against Michigan, is weak because the Wolverines were reeling, but it still isn’t easy to go across the country and beat a team who has so much talent in their place rather handily. SMU had to win at least one of those four big games, or I think that would bite the Mustangs come March. Yes, it would have been better if the Mustangs had beaten another one of those two, but Indiana got hot and couldn’t miss a three, and SMU could’ve easily beaten Arkansas. SMU’s win over Eastern Washington isn’t looking so bad either, as they’ve been pretty impressive, even with a win against Indiana. I expect to see EWU in the Tournament come March.

Nic Moore is the most important player on this team, bar none. Take, for example, against UCSB when he went out with an injury. SMU led at the time, and when he was out, the Gauchos came back and force overtime. Moore knocks down most shots he gets open (an outstanding 48.8 percent from downtown), whether it’s penetrating the lane, or a mid-range jumper or a clutch three-pointer.

Nic Moore would be the obvious MVP of the nonconference schedule, but I would also throw Yanick Moreira at you instead. Without his postmate, Markus Kennedy, Moreira and Ben Moore have really done a great job, though Ben Moore has struggled of late. Over the summer, Moreira did great things for Angola in the FIBA World Championships. The experience really has paid off as so far Moreira has averaged 12.3 points per game, 6.8 rebounds per game and has shot 61.7 percent from the field.

The guy who has really come into his own so far is Keith Frazier, who is playing more and more and is growing into a really good shooter, and is playing better defense. The highly-touted McDonald’s All-America has begun to flourish and can make as many clutch threes, in my opinion, as Nic Moore can. Remember that against Arkansas, it was Frazier’s four-point play that really sparked a comeback, even though the rally eventually fell short. Once Kennedy gets back to his old form, I see their best option for the starting five being: Nic Moore, Frazier, Ben Moore (he’ll get out of his slump eventually), Kennedy and Moreira. That is a dangerous top five.

The American is proving to be a bit weak, as the Connecticut Huskies are not what everybody thought they would be, and everyone else isn’t exactly setting the world on fire. I saw an article that said something like, “SMU may be the most unlucky team.” It talked about how they suffered the losses of Mudiay and Kennedy, and more about how the American might be a one-bid conference in the NCAA Tournament. I can’t say I don’t disagree with that — the normal powerhouses like Memphis aren’t great, and Cincinnati is struggling (even before head coach Mick Kronin suffered an aneurism Saturday). The conference definitely has time to shape up, but this may be SMU’s chance to win a weaker conference that definitely is not what it was last year.

The Mustangs began this season with high expectations, and they haven’t quite lived up to them, but they have been pretty close. Other than Lamar, SMU has not blown out a lot of teams. But that sloppiness can be fixed. SMU will get one last tune-up before conference play Dec. 29 against Midwestern State. I see a solid conference result for SMU, especially after the win over Michigan and the way in which the Mustange beat the Wolverines.

This should be a fun next couple of months for the Mustang faithful.