June Jones has a history of rebuilding college football programs. Back in 1999, no one paid attention to The University of Hawaii. But by 2007, The Warriors had a perfect 12 and 0 regular season, capped off by a B-C-S bowl appearance. He's now on the verge of having similar success at SMU.

"We're right where I thought we would be," said Jones.

In only his 2nd season, Jones has a Mustangs team who only won one game last year, in position to make their first bowl appearance since 1984.

"We have a chance to finish better than 6 and 6 but our goal was to get six for sure and that's where we're at."

June Jones has used his trademark run and shoot offense to help resuscitate SMU's football program. The Mustangs are averaging nearly 300 passing yards per game which is 16th in the nation. But the x's and o's of the game accounts for only half of SMU's resurrection.

"Coach Jones got people believing," said Receiver Emmanuel Sanders. "We go out every game believing we can win and we know that with Coach Jones at the helm anything is possible."

Jones said, "I just believe so much more in, not the x's and o's, not the football stuff. Everybody does that. The coaches before me have been good football coaches. It's more about getting the mind set changed and the culture of everything, not just the locker room, not just the kids but the school, the traditions, everything! It's like re-branding in a way, who you are."

And the results speak for themselves. The Mustangs have four games remaining to pick up two wins... making them bowl eligible. SMU can take a big step towards that goal by picking up a win this Saturday against a winless Rice team.

SMU Offensive Lineman, Mitch Enright said, "Anytime a team like Rice comes in here, they're going to be hungry because they're oh and eight. They want to get that first win of the year. So we have to take care of business and hopefully by the end of the game we'll have a win."

I have to say one thing about June Jones, he's always been an optimist.  He said last month that SMU would sell out the home opener against Stephen F. Austin and tonight, two nights before the game, the school says 32,000 seats at Gerald J. Ford Stadium are sold making the game an official sell out.

"We talk about `believing' with our team, and I had asked everyone in the community to believe that we would sell out this game," said Head Coach June Jones. "We've done that. It will be great for our kids to run out into a stadium full of our SMU fans, and our team will feed off their energy. As I've said, it's an exciting time to be a part of SMU football."

The school put together a committee that asked different Dallas businesses to purchase 1,000 tickets a piece and then either sell the tickets or give them away.  Many tickets will go to youth organizations and high school students.

The all time record at Ford Stadium is 34,689 and the Mustangs have created some new
seating areas which could help this crowd set a new record and Athletic Director Steve Orsini believes it will happen. 

"We want to thank everyone who was involved in this effort," said Orsini. "This historic effort is a tribute to our Sellout 2009 committee and our ticket sales staff. While we're sold out, I believe that we will also break our record for the largest crowd in Ford Stadium history."

Kickoff is 7:00pm and the gates to the Ford Stadium open at 5:30pm.