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1961 Colorado

9–⁠2 (7–⁠0 Big Eight), coached by Everett Grandelius, finished No. 7 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Colorado in 1961, game by game: won vs. Oklahoma State 24–0; won vs. Kansas 20–19; won at Miami 9–7; won at Kansas State 13–0; won at Oklahoma 22–14; won vs. Missouri 7–6; lost vs. Utah 12–21; won at Nebraska 7–0; won vs. Iowa State 34–0; won vs. Air Force 29–12; lost vs. No. 3 LSU 7–25+34−18Won 24–0 vs. Oklahoma State+24Oklahoma StateWon 20–19 vs. Kansas+1KansasWon 9–7 at Miami+2MiamiWon 13–0 at Kansas State+13Kansas StateWon 22–14 at Oklahoma+8OklahomaWon 7–6 vs. Missouri+1MissouriLost 12–21 vs. Utah-9UtahWon 7–0 at Nebraska+7NebraskaWon 34–0 vs. Iowa State+34Iowa StateWon 29–12 vs. Air Force+17Air ForceLost 7–25 vs. No. 3 LSU-18No. 3 LSU
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 30vsOklahoma StateW 24–⁠066%
Oct 7vsKansasW 20–⁠1948%
Oct 13atMiamiW 9–⁠743%
Oct 21atKansas StateW 13–⁠072%
Oct 28atOklahomaW 22–⁠1460%
Nov 4vsMissouriW 7–⁠642%
Nov 11vsUtahL 12–⁠2166%
Nov 18atNebraskaW 7–⁠060%
Nov 25vsIowa StateW 34–⁠063%
Dec 2vsAir ForceW 29–⁠1282%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs3LSUOrange BowlL 7–⁠2535%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to LSU 25–⁠7 in the Orange Bowl; No. 7 in the final AP poll; Big Eight champions.

In program history: The 42nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 125 on file).

AP poll, week by week

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

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.

Big Eight champions7–⁠0 in the conference

Consensus All-AmericanJoe Romig, OG/LB

Record
9–⁠2
Conference
7–⁠0 first in Big Eight
AP final
No. 7 peak No. 6
Points
184–⁠104
Coach
Everett Grandelius
Elo
1596 +79 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
13.4 No. 20 of 111 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Joe Romig
Most valuable player
Joe Romig

Drafted in 1962

The 1962 draft
Rd 1Jerry Hillebrand LBNew York Giants
Rd 5Ted Woods RBSan Francisco 49ers
Rd 7Jim Perkins OTPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 2Jerry Hillebrand LBDenver Broncos (AFL)

All-Big Eight

4 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

  • Loren SchweningerBAP-2
  • Ken BlairEAP-2

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

1961 Big Eight standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Colorado7–⁠09–⁠27
Missouri5–⁠27–⁠2–⁠111
Kansas5–⁠27–⁠3–⁠1
Oklahoma4–⁠35–⁠5
Iowa State3–⁠45–⁠5
Oklahoma State2–⁠54–⁠6
Nebraska2–⁠53–⁠6–⁠1
Kansas State0–⁠72–⁠8

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