Andy Enfield defends SMU's NCAA Tournament resume amid BJ Edwards injury controversy

In the final First Four game of the 2026 NCAA Tournament Wednesday night, No. 11 Miami (OH) knocked off No. 11 SMU 89-79 in Dayton to set up a Round of 64 matchup against No. 6 seed Tennessee on Friday. With the win, the Redhawks improved to 32-1 on the season. With the loss, SMU‘s season came to an end.

The Mustangs were without senior guard B.J. Edwards in the game, which dealt a big blow on both sides of the ball. Edwards was injured in SMU’s 73-69 loss to Cal on Feb. 25 and hasn’t played since. Prior to last Sunday’s Selection Show, however, SMU released a statement that claimed Edwards would be ready for Tournament play.

This statement, and the probability that Edwards would be back in time for the Tournament, was the reason SMU was ultimately awarded the final at-large bid in the field.

“Six games ago, they lost one of their important players (Edwards),” Tournament Selection Committee Chairperson Keith Gill said following the bracket reveal. “They’ve lost five of six of those games. He’s coming back. He’s the third-leading scorer and is a defensive player. Their quality of wins, along with them getting back to full strength, gave them that last spot.”

Andy Enfield proclaims SMU deserved spot in NCAA Tournament, regardless of BJ Edwards’ status

Edwards was listed as questionable leading up to the game, and was ultimately designated as OUT two hours to tip-off. This drew criticism from many, especially after SMU‘s loss, regarding the truthfulness of the statement that he’d be ready for the Tournament. Postgame, SMU head coach Andy Enfield shut down these talks.

“If you look at our whole body of work, we deserved to be in the NCAA Tournament,” Enfield said. “Our NET was 37, with the quality of wins we had. BJ is important, but it’s a team sport. A lot of other teams have injuries. We deserved to be in the NCAA Tournament if you looked at all of our metrics and our wins. BJ felt, we all thought, that he would be back. As far as the committee, we deserved to be in the NCAA Tournament. Bottom line. That’s pretty to the point right there.”

Following Edwards’ injury on Feb. 25, SMU lost four of its last five games heading into Tournament play. Sitting at 20-13, the Mustangs very easily could have been on the outside looking in if they hadn’t claimed that Edwards would be back. He would have been massive for Enfield’s team, as he averaged 12.7 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 4.9 assists this season.