CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1986 Arkansas

9–⁠3 (6–⁠2 Southwest Conference), coached by Ken Hatfield, finished No. 15 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Arkansas in 1986, game by game: won vs. Ole Miss 21–0; won vs. Tulsa 34–17; won vs. New Mexico State 42–11; won vs. TCU 34–17; lost vs. Texas Tech 7–17; won at Texas 21–14; won at Houston 30–13; won vs. Rice 45–14; lost at Baylor 14–29; won vs. No. 7 Texas A&M 14–10; won at SMU 41–0; lost vs. No. 3 Oklahoma 8–42+41−34Won 21–0 vs. Ole Miss+21Ole MissWon 34–17 vs. Tulsa+17TulsaWon 42–11 vs. New Mexico State+31New Mexico StateWon 34–17 vs. TCU+17TCULost 7–17 vs. Texas Tech-10Texas TechWon 21–14 at Texas+7TexasWon 30–13 at Houston+17HoustonWon 45–14 vs. Rice+31RiceLost 14–29 at Baylor-15BaylorWon 14–10 vs. No. 7 Texas A&M+4No. 7 Texas A&MWon 41–0 at SMU+41SMULost 8–42 vs. No. 3 Oklahoma-34No. 3 Oklahoma
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 13vsOle MissW 21–⁠074%
Sep 20vsTulsaW 34–⁠1774%
Sep 27vsNew Mexico StateW 42–⁠1193%
Oct 4vsTCUW 34–⁠1784%
Oct 11vsTexas TechL 7–⁠1784%
Oct 18atTexasW 21–⁠1457%
Oct 25atHoustonW 30–⁠1370%
Nov 1vsRiceW 45–⁠1491%
Nov 8atBaylorL 14–⁠2948%
Nov 15vs7Texas A&MW 14–⁠1051%
Nov 22atSMUW 41–⁠051%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs3OklahomaOrange BowlL 8–⁠4234%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Oklahoma 42–⁠8 in the Orange Bowl; No. 15 in the final AP poll; tied for 2nd in the Southwest Conference.

In program history: The 20th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 19
  2. Wk 2: 18
  3. Wk 3: 12
  4. Wk 4: 9
  5. Wk 5: 8
  6. Wk 6: 8
  7. Wk 7: 14
  8. Wk 8: 14
  9. Wk 9: 13
  10. Wk 10: 10
  11. Wk 11: 17
  12. Wk 12: 11
  13. Wk 13: 9
  14. Wk 14: 9
  15. Final: 15

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
6–⁠2 tied for 2nd in Southwest Conference
AP final
No. 15 peak No. 8
Points
311–⁠184
Coach
Ken Hatfield
Elo
1664 +37 this season
SP+ rating
15.2 No. 20 of 101; offense No. 31, defense No. 15
SRS
9.5 No. 25 of 105 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Fred Goldsmith
Captains
James Shibest, Derrick Thomas and Theo Young
Offense
Option

Drafted in 1987

The 1987 draft
Rd 5Greg Horne PCincinnati Bengals

All-Southwest Conference

5 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

  • Rickey WilliamsLBAP-2
  • Chuck WashingtonSecondaryAP-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 Southwest Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Texas A&M7–⁠19–⁠313
Baylor6–⁠29–⁠312
Arkansas6–⁠29–⁠315
Texas Tech5–⁠37–⁠5
SMU5–⁠36–⁠5
Texas4–⁠45–⁠6
Rice2–⁠64–⁠7
TCU1–⁠73–⁠8
Houston0–⁠81–⁠10

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