The Southern Methodist University football scandal was an incident in which the Mustangs football program at Southern Methodist University (SMU) was investigated and punished for repeated violations of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rules and regulations over a period of several years between the late 1970s and mid-1980s. The most serious violation was the maintenance of a slush fund used for "under the table" payments to players and their families to entice them to come to SMU to play.