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1954 Baylor

7–⁠4 (4–⁠2 Southwest Conference), coached by George Sauer, finished No. 18 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Baylor in 1954, game by game: won vs. Houston 53–13; won at Vanderbilt 25–19; lost at Miami 13–19; lost at Arkansas 20–21; won vs. Washington 34–7; won vs. Texas A&M 20–7; won at No. 17 TCU 12–7; won vs. Texas 13–7; won at No. 11 SMU 33–21; lost vs. Rice 14–20; lost vs. No. 15 Auburn 13–33+40−20Won 53–13 vs. Houston+40HoustonWon 25–19 at Vanderbilt+6VanderbiltLost 13–19 at Miami-6MiamiLost 20–21 at Arkansas-1ArkansasWon 34–7 vs. Washington+27WashingtonWon 20–7 vs. Texas A&M+13Texas A&MWon 12–7 at No. 17 TCU+5No. 17 TCUWon 13–7 vs. Texas+6TexasWon 33–21 at No. 11 SMU+12No. 11 SMULost 14–20 vs. Rice-6RiceLost 13–33 vs. No. 15 Auburn-20No. 15 Auburn
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 18vsHoustonW 53–⁠1357%
Sep 25atVanderbiltW 25–⁠1960%
Oct 1atMiamiL 13–⁠1957%
Oct 9atArkansasL 20–⁠2151%
Oct 16vsWashingtonW 34–⁠768%
Oct 23vsTexas A&MW 20–⁠777%
Oct 30at17TCUW 12–⁠746%
Nov 6vsTexasW 13–⁠767%
Nov 20at11SMUW 33–⁠2143%
Nov 27vsRiceL 14–⁠2063%
Dec 31Bowls & playoffvs15AuburnGator BowlL 13–⁠3353%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Auburn 33–⁠13 in the Gator Bowl; No. 18 in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Southwest Conference.

In program history: The 19th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 121 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 2: 10
  2. Wk 3: 11
  3. Wk 8: 20
  4. Wk 9: 18
  5. Wk 10: 20
  6. Wk 11: 9
  7. Final: 18

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.

Record
7–⁠4
Conference
4–⁠2 tied for 3rd in Southwest Conference
AP final
No. 18 peak No. 9
Points
250–⁠174
Coach
George Sauer
Elo
1610 +51 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
14.7 No. 15 of 111 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Jim Ray Smith and Charles Smith

Drafted in 1955

The 1955 draft
Rd 3L.G. Dupree BBaltimore Colts

All-Southwest Conference

3 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.