While SMU students and fans generally don't go into the stadium to watch their awful ponies play football, they sure do tailgate VERY WELL.
The Boulevard, as SMU folks call it, is designed after the famous Ole Miss Grove (some official from Ole Miss is now at SMU) and is a solid tailgate with a great feel to it. Not the typical NFL tailgate we're used to in Tampa (concrete parking lot, little grass and not aesthetically pleasing).
My in-laws live 3 blocks from SMU's campus in the University Park area of Dallas so it was a very easy commute on the chilly night. We went "Boulevarding" and ran into some very kind SMU fans. We even went into a few Fraternity tents (which were heated), which made my wife and I want to be back into college. But one thing I heard from a bunch of SAE Bro's in their nicely heated tent was "Bro, let's go to Mi Cocina" which is a really great higher-end Tex-Mex join. While Mi Cocina is **** good, they had zero intention on going into the game.
SMU Tailgate > USF Tailgate
On a side note, Gerald R. Ford Stadium is a nice stadium that seats 32,000. I kept on thinking "man, I wish USF had a stadium a little larger but similar to this on campus."