By SMU special contributor Alex Riley

DALLAS – This was the time of year Carl Bussey waited for. A midfield fixture on the pitch for SMU men's soccer from 1998-2001, Bussey and his teammates saw the regular season as a warm-up, a chance to fine tune the little things.

Making the NCAA Tournament was the expectation. Sticking around was the ultimate challenge.

"(Being in the tournament) wasn't a sense of nerves, it was more of a sense of urgency. We knew we were going to be in this situation. Now, it's a matter of which team is finally going to get this program over the hump. That was our mentality," Bussey, a two-time All-American, recalled.

Carrying on that standard of excellence is a longstanding tradition in Dallas, as the Mustangs have been a postseason staple for the better part of four decades. Sunday's second round matchup with either NC State or Coastal Carolina marks SMU's 32nd appearance in the NCAA Tournament since its first berth in 1979.

Of those 32 trips, 12 have started with the program earning a first-round bye, the most recent of which was 2011. The Mustangs have advanced to at least the quarterfinals nine times, including two trips to the College Cup.

"The way that we always trained at SMU was we always held ourselves to a high standard. Even when we came in for the first day of preseason, we always talked about it's a process to get us where we want to be," former forward Arthur Ivo said. He earned second team All-American honors in 2010. "You know you're going to get the spots you want to get to, both individually and as a team, because you're going to be held to that standard. They're going to push you and make you work hard."

All the work led up to first whistle of the opening NCAA game. For Bussey, early exits in 1998 and 1999 fueled a run to the College Cup in 2000 and another trip to the quarterfinals the following season.

After missing the postseason in 2008 and 2009, Ivo helped SMU to a pair of berths his final two years, including a quarterfinal trip as a junior.

Duke Hashimoto had reached three NCAA Tournaments from 2002-04. He'd seen snow at Boston College as a freshman, a big culture shock for a kid from Hawaii, but had also never gotten past the third round. As a senior, all that changed when the Mustangs won a home opener vs. San Francisco, followed by trio of road games at UCLA, UNC Greensboro and North Carolina to reach the College Cup for the second time in program history.  

"We never felt intimidated by an opponent, no matter who it was," Hashimoto, a second-team All-American in 2005, said. "The thing that gave me confidence was knowing that I had great teammates around me. We had a group of really good guys that we just trusted each other."

Like many SMU soccer alums, Hashimoto, Ivo and Bussey have all kept up with this year's team. They've seen camaraderie and teamwork similar to what they experienced in college.

Will it be enough to push SMU deep into the NCAA Tournament once more? That remains to be seen.

Their advice? Keep the tradition going and enjoy the ride.

"It's hard to say because when I was going through the process I was very nervous for some of the bigger games, but when I look back, those were the fun games. The higher pressure the game was, the more fun it was when I look back on it," Hashimoto said. "I would just say stay in the moment and do what you always do because that's what got you there."