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1987 Colorado

7–⁠4 (4–⁠3 Big Eight), coached by Bill McCartney.

Schedule and results

Colorado in 1987, game by game: lost vs. Oregon 7–10; won vs. Stanford 31–17; won vs. Washington State 26–17; won at Colorado State 29–16; lost at No. 19 Oklahoma State 17–42; won vs. Kansas 35–10; lost at No. 1 Oklahoma 6–24; won at Iowa State 42–10; won vs. Missouri 27–10; won at Kansas State 41–0; lost vs. No. 5 Nebraska 7–24+41−25Lost 7–10 vs. Oregon-3OregonWon 31–17 vs. Stanford+14StanfordWon 26–17 vs. Washington State+9Washington StateWon 29–16 at Colorado State+13Colorado StateLost 17–42 at No. 19 Oklahoma State-25No. 19 Oklahoma StateWon 35–10 vs. Kansas+25KansasLost 6–24 at No. 1 Oklahoma-18No. 1 OklahomaWon 42–10 at Iowa State+32Iowa StateWon 27–10 vs. Missouri+17MissouriWon 41–0 at Kansas State+41Kansas StateLost 7–24 vs. No. 5 Nebraska-17No. 5 Nebraska
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 12vsOregonL 7–⁠1063%
Sep 19vsStanfordW 31–⁠1756%
Sep 26vsWashington StateW 26–⁠1764%
Oct 3atColorado StateW 29–⁠1664%
Oct 10at19Oklahoma StateL 17–⁠4237%
Oct 17vsKansasW 35–⁠1083%
Oct 24at1OklahomaL 6–⁠2417%
Oct 31atIowa StateW 42–⁠1064%
Nov 7vsMissouriW 27–⁠1073%
Nov 21atKansas StateW 41–⁠084%
Nov 28vs5NebraskaL 7–⁠2437%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Nebraska 24–⁠7; unranked in the final AP poll; 4th in the Big Eight.

In program history: The 51st-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 125 on file).

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 1987.

Record
7–⁠4
Conference
4–⁠3 4th in Big Eight
AP final
Unranked
Points
268–⁠180
Coach
Bill McCartney
Elo
1575 +45 this season
SP+ rating
8.1 No. 36 of 101; offense No. 55, defense No. 24
SRS
7.8 No. 26 of 104 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Gerry DiNardo
Defensive coordinator
Lou Tepper
Captains
Mark Hatcher, Barry Helton and Mickey Pruitt
Most valuable player
Mickey Pruitt
Offense
Wishbone
Defense
3–⁠4

Drafted in 1988

The 1988 draft
Rd 4Barry Helton PSan Francisco 49ers

All-Big Eight

4 first team, 1 second team

First team

  • Kyle RappoldDown linemanAP-1; UPI-1
  • Eric McCartyLBAP-1; UPI-1
  • Mickey PruittDBAP-1; UPI-1
  • Barry HeltonPAP-1; UPI-1

Second team

  • Kurt KochDown linemanAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1987 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1987 Big Eight standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Oklahoma7–⁠011–⁠13
Nebraska6–⁠110–⁠26
Oklahoma State5–⁠210–⁠211
Colorado4–⁠37–⁠4
Missouri3–⁠45–⁠6
Iowa State2–⁠53–⁠8
Kansas0–⁠6–⁠11–⁠9–⁠1
Kansas State0–⁠6–⁠10–⁠10–⁠1

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