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1988 Arkansas

10–⁠2 (7–⁠0 Southwest Conference), coached by Ken Hatfield, finished No. 12 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Arkansas in 1988, game by game: won vs. Pacific 63–14; won vs. Tulsa 30–26; won vs. Ole Miss 21–13; won vs. TCU 53–10; won vs. Texas Tech 31–10; won at Texas 27–24; won at Houston 26–21; won vs. Rice 21–14; won at Baylor 33–3; won vs. Texas A&M 25–20; lost at No. 3 Miami 16–18; lost vs. No. 9 UCLA 3–17+49−14Won 63–14 vs. Pacific+49PacificWon 30–26 vs. Tulsa+4TulsaWon 21–13 vs. Ole Miss+8Ole MissWon 53–10 vs. TCU+43TCUWon 31–10 vs. Texas Tech+21Texas TechWon 27–24 at Texas+3TexasWon 26–21 at Houston+5HoustonWon 21–14 vs. Rice+7RiceWon 33–3 at Baylor+30BaylorWon 25–20 vs. Texas A&M+5Texas A&MLost 16–18 at No. 3 Miami-2No. 3 MiamiLost 3–17 vs. No. 9 UCLA-14No. 9 UCLA
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 3vsPacificW 63–⁠1480%
Sep 10vsTulsaW 30–⁠2678%
Sep 17vsOle MissW 21–⁠1378%
Oct 1vsTCUW 53–⁠1072%
Oct 8vsTexas TechW 31–⁠1078%
Oct 15atTexasW 27–⁠2461%
Oct 22atHoustonW 26–⁠2160%
Oct 29vsRiceW 21–⁠1493%
Nov 5atBaylorW 33–⁠369%
Nov 12vsTexas A&MW 25–⁠2064%
Nov 26at3MiamiL 16–⁠1829%
Jan 2Bowls & playoffvs9UCLACotton BowlL 3–⁠1746%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to UCLA 17–⁠3 in the Cotton Bowl; No. 12 in the final AP poll; Southwest Conference champions.

In program history: The 15th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 7: 20
  2. Wk 8: 17
  3. Wk 9: 13
  4. Wk 10: 11
  5. Wk 11: 11
  6. Wk 12: 11
  7. Wk 13: 10
  8. Wk 14: 8
  9. Wk 15: 9
  10. Wk 16: 8
  11. Final: 12

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 1988.

Southwest Conference champions7–⁠0 in the conference

2 consensus All-AmericansWayne Martin, DT; Kendall Trainor, K

Record
10–⁠2
Conference
7–⁠0 first in Southwest Conference
AP final
No. 12 peak No. 8
Points
349–⁠190
Coach
Ken Hatfield
Elo
1687 +90 this season
SP+ rating
19.7 No. 15 of 102; offense No. 22, defense No. 13
SRS
14.5 No. 17 of 105 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
David Lee
Defensive coordinator
Fred Goldsmith
Captains
Steve Atwater, John Bland, Odis Lloyd and Kerry Owens
Offense
Option

Drafted in 1989

The 1989 draft
Rd 1Wayne Martin DENew Orleans Saints
Rd 1Steve Atwater DBDenver Broncos
Rd 2Freddie Childress OGCincinnati Bengals
Rd 4Kerry Owens LBCincinnati Bengals
Rd 7Richard Brothers DBChicago Bears

All-Southwest Conference

10 first team, 6 second team

First team

Second team

  • Barry FosterRBUPI-2
  • Mark HenryOGUPI-2
  • Elbert CrawfordCAP-2
  • Kerry CrawfordDLAP-2; UPI-2
  • Patrick WilliamsSecondaryAP-2; UPI-2
  • Richard BrothersSecondaryAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1988 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1988 Southwest Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Arkansas7–⁠010–⁠212
Texas A&M6–⁠17–⁠5
Houston5–⁠29–⁠318
Texas Tech4–⁠35–⁠6
Baylor2–⁠56–⁠5
Texas2–⁠54–⁠7
TCU2–⁠54–⁠7
Rice0–⁠70–⁠11

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