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1961 Baylor

6–⁠5 (2–⁠5 Southwest Conference), coached by John Bridgers.

Schedule and results

Baylor in 1961, game by game: won vs. Wake Forest 31–0; won at Pittsburgh 16–13; lost vs. Arkansas 13–23; lost at Texas Tech 17–19; lost at Texas A&M 0–23; won vs. TCU 28–14; lost at Texas 7–33; won vs. Air Force 31–7; won vs. SMU 31–6; lost at No. 7 Rice 14–26; won vs. Utah State 24–9+31−26Won 31–0 vs. Wake Forest+31Wake ForestWon 16–13 at Pittsburgh+3PittsburghLost 13–23 vs. Arkansas-10ArkansasLost 17–19 at Texas Tech-2Texas TechLost 0–23 at Texas A&M-23Texas A&MWon 28–14 vs. TCU+14TCULost 7–33 at Texas-26TexasWon 31–7 vs. Air Force+24Air ForceWon 31–6 vs. SMU+25SMULost 14–26 at No. 7 Rice-12No. 7 RiceWon 24–9 vs. Utah State+15Utah State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 23vsWake ForestW 31–⁠077%
Sep 30atPittsburghW 16–⁠1343%
Oct 14vsArkansasL 13–⁠2356%
Oct 21atTexas TechL 17–⁠1965%
Oct 28atTexas A&ML 0–⁠2353%
Nov 4vsTCUW 28–⁠1460%
Nov 11atTexasL 7–⁠3320%
Nov 18vsAir ForceW 31–⁠773%
Nov 25vsSMUW 31–⁠681%
Dec 2at7RiceL 14–⁠2635%
Dec 9Bowls & playoffvsUtah StateGotham BowlW 24–⁠931%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Utah State 24–⁠9 in the Gotham Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 6th in the Southwest Conference.

In program history: The 26th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 121 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 3: 10
  2. Wk 4: 9

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 1961.

Record
6–⁠5
Conference
2–⁠5 tied for 6th in Southwest Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 9
Points
212–⁠173
Coach
John Bridgers
Elo
1588 +13 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
10.8 No. 28 of 111 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Ronald Stanley, Bill Hicks and Bobby Lane

Drafted in 1962

The 1962 draft
Rd 1Ronnie Bull BChicago Bears
Rd 1Ronnie Bull RBDallas Texans (AFL)
Rd 5Bobby Ply DBNew York Titans (AFL)

All-Southwest Conference

2 first team, 1 second team

First team

  • Herby AdkinsOGAP-2; UPI-1
  • Bill HicksCAP-1

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1961 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1961 Southwest Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Texas6–⁠110–⁠13
Arkansas6–⁠18–⁠39
Rice5–⁠27–⁠417
Texas A&M3–⁠44–⁠5–⁠1
TCU2–⁠4–⁠13–⁠5–⁠2
Baylor2–⁠56–⁠5
Texas Tech2–⁠54–⁠6
SMU1–⁠5–⁠12–⁠7–⁠1

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