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1986 Arizona

9–⁠3 (5–⁠3 Pac-10), coached by Larry Smith, finished No. 11 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Arizona in 1986, game by game: won vs. Houston 37–3; won vs. Colorado State 37–10; won at Oregon 41–17; won at Colorado 24–21; lost at UCLA 25–32; won vs. Oregon State 23–12; won vs. California 33–16; lost vs. No. 18 USC 13–20; won at Washington State 31–6; won vs. No. 4 Arizona State 34–17; lost vs. Stanford 24–29; won vs. North Carolina 30–21+34−7Won 37–3 vs. Houston+34HoustonWon 37–10 vs. Colorado State+27Colorado StateWon 41–17 at Oregon+24OregonWon 24–21 at Colorado+3ColoradoLost 25–32 at UCLA-7UCLAWon 23–12 vs. Oregon State+11Oregon StateWon 33–16 vs. California+17CaliforniaLost 13–20 vs. No. 18 USC-7No. 18 USCWon 31–6 at Washington State+25Washington StateWon 34–17 vs. No. 4 Arizona State+17No. 4 Arizona StateLost 24–29 vs. Stanford-5StanfordWon 30–21 vs. North Carolina+9North Carolina
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 6vsHoustonW 37–⁠372%
Sep 13vsColorado StateW 37–⁠1071%
Sep 20atOregonW 41–⁠1758%
Sep 27atColoradoW 24–⁠2171%
Oct 11atUCLAL 25–⁠3246%
Oct 18vsOregon StateW 23–⁠1289%
Oct 25vsCaliforniaW 33–⁠1686%
Nov 1vs18USCL 13–⁠2067%
Nov 8atWashington StateW 31–⁠662%
Nov 22vs4Arizona StateW 34–⁠1746%
Nov 30vsStanfordL 24–⁠2967%
Dec 27Bowls & playoffvsNorth CarolinaAloha BowlW 30–⁠2162%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat North Carolina 30–⁠21 in the Aloha Bowl; No. 11 in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Pac-10.

In program history: The 4th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 102 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 3: 17
  2. Wk 4: 10
  3. Wk 5: 10
  4. Wk 6: 11
  5. Wk 7: 16
  6. Wk 8: 15
  7. Wk 9: 14
  8. Wk 10: 17
  9. Wk 11: 14
  10. Wk 12: 14
  11. Wk 13: 12
  12. Wk 14: 16
  13. Final: 11

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1986.

Record
9–⁠3
Conference
5–⁠3 tied for 4th in Pac-10
AP final
No. 11 peak No. 10
Points
352–⁠204
Coach
Larry Smith
Elo
1666 +80 this season
SP+ rating
18.2 No. 16 of 101; offense No. 15, defense No. 20
SRS
17.5 No. 10 of 105 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Chuck Stobart
Defensive coordinator
Chris Allen
Captain
Byron Evans

Drafted in 1987

The 1987 draft
Rd 4Byron Evans LBPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 5Ruben Rodriguez PSeattle Seahawks
Rd 6Danny Lockett LBDetroit Lions

All-Pac-10

4 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

  • Stan MataeleDLCoaches-2
  • Danny LockettLBCoaches-2
  • Gary CostonKCoaches-2

From Wikipedia’s 1986 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1986 Pac-10 standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Arizona State5–⁠1–⁠110–⁠1–⁠14
Washington5–⁠2–⁠18–⁠3–⁠118
UCLA5–⁠2–⁠18–⁠3–⁠114
Arizona5–⁠39–⁠311
Stanford5–⁠38–⁠4
USC5–⁠37–⁠5
Oregon3–⁠55–⁠6
Washington State2–⁠6–⁠13–⁠7–⁠1
California2–⁠72–⁠9
Oregon State1–⁠63–⁠8

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.