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1954 Arkansas

8–⁠3 (5–⁠1 Southwest Conference), coached by Bowden Wyatt, finished No. 10 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Arkansas in 1954, game by game: won vs. Tulsa 41–0; won at TCU 20–13; won vs. Baylor 21–20; won at Texas 20–7; won vs. No. 5 Ole Miss 6–0; won at Texas A&M 14–7; won vs. No. 15 Rice 28–15; lost vs. No. 19 SMU 14–21; lost vs. LSU 6–7; won at Houston 19–0; lost vs. Georgia Tech 6–14+41−8Won 41–0 vs. Tulsa+41TulsaWon 20–13 at TCU+7TCUWon 21–20 vs. Baylor+1BaylorWon 20–7 at Texas+13TexasWon 6–0 vs. No. 5 Ole Miss+6No. 5 Ole MissWon 14–7 at Texas A&M+7Texas A&MWon 28–15 vs. No. 15 Rice+13No. 15 RiceLost 14–21 vs. No. 19 SMU-7No. 19 SMULost 6–7 vs. LSU-1LSUWon 19–0 at Houston+19HoustonLost 6–14 vs. Georgia Tech-8Georgia Tech
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 25vsTulsaW 41–⁠064%
Oct 2atTCUW 20–⁠1337%
Oct 9vsBaylorW 21–⁠2049%
Oct 16atTexasW 20–⁠730%
Oct 23vs5Ole MissW 6–⁠041%
Oct 30atTexas A&MW 14–⁠764%
Nov 6vs15RiceW 28–⁠1555%
Nov 13vs19SMUL 14–⁠2160%
Nov 20vsLSUL 6–⁠768%
Nov 27atHoustonW 19–⁠051%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvsGeorgia TechCotton BowlL 6–⁠1440%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Georgia Tech 14–⁠6 in the Cotton Bowl; No. 10 in the final AP poll; Southwest Conference champions.

In program history: The 38th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

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

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 1954.

Southwest Conference champions5–⁠1 in the conference

Outland TrophyBud Brooks, OG

Consensus All-AmericanBud Brooks, OG

Record
8–⁠3
Conference
5–⁠1 first in Southwest Conference
AP final
No. 10 peak No. 4
Points
195–⁠104
Coach
Bowden Wyatt
Elo
1603 +137 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
15.2 No. 14 of 111 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Bobby Proctor and Jim Roth

Drafted in 1955

The 1955 draft
Rd 5Bud Brooks OGDetroit Lions

All-Southwest Conference

2 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1954 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1954 Southwest Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Arkansas5–⁠18–⁠310
SMU4–⁠1–⁠16–⁠3–⁠1
Rice4–⁠27–⁠319
Baylor4–⁠27–⁠418
Texas2–⁠3–⁠14–⁠5–⁠1
TCU1–⁠54–⁠6
Texas A&M0–⁠61–⁠9

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