CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1976 Houston

10–⁠2 (7–⁠1 Southwest Conference), coached by Bill Yeoman, finished No. 4 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Houston in 1976, game by game: won at Baylor 23–5; lost at Florida 14–49; won vs. No. 9 Texas A&M 21–10; won vs. West Texas 50–7; won at SMU 29–6; lost vs. No. 15 Arkansas 7–14; won vs. TCU 49–21; won at No. 20 Texas 30–0; won at No. 5 Texas Tech 27–19; won at Rice 42–20; won vs. Miami 21–16; won vs. No. 4 Maryland 30–21+43−35Won 23–5 at Baylor+18BaylorLost 14–49 at Florida-35FloridaWon 21–10 vs. No. 9 Texas A&M+11No. 9 Texas A&MWon 50–7 vs. West Texas+43West TexasWon 29–6 at SMU+23SMULost 7–14 vs. No. 15 Arkansas-7No. 15 ArkansasWon 49–21 vs. TCU+28TCUWon 30–0 at No. 20 Texas+30No. 20 TexasWon 27–19 at No. 5 Texas Tech+8No. 5 Texas TechWon 42–20 at Rice+22RiceWon 21–16 vs. Miami+5MiamiWon 30–21 vs. No. 4 Maryland+9No. 4 Maryland
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 11atBaylorW 23–⁠537%
Sep 18atFloridaL 14–⁠4929%
Sep 25vs9Texas A&MW 21–⁠1034%
Oct 9vsWest TexasW 50–⁠769%
Oct 16atSMUW 29–⁠653%
Oct 23vs15ArkansasL 7–⁠1445%
Oct 30vsTCUW 49–⁠2186%
Nov 6at20TexasW 30–⁠029%
Nov 20at5Texas TechW 27–⁠1932%
Nov 27atRiceW 42–⁠2078%
Dec 4vsMiamiW 21–⁠1683%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs4MarylandCotton BowlW 30–⁠2136%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Maryland 30–⁠21 in the Cotton Bowl; No. 4 in the final AP poll; Southwest Conference champions.

In program history: The 10th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 81 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 6: 19
  2. Wk 7: 14
  3. Wk 9: 19
  4. Wk 10: 12
  5. Wk 11: 9
  6. Wk 12: 7
  7. Wk 13: 6
  8. Final: 4

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 1976.

Southwest Conference champions7–⁠1 in the conference, shared with Texas Tech

Lombardi AwardWilson Whitley, DT

Consensus All-AmericanWilson Whitley, DT

Record
10–⁠2
Conference
7–⁠1 shared first in Southwest Conference
AP final
No. 4 peak No. 4
Points
343–⁠188
Coach
Bill Yeoman
Elo
1683 +229 this season
SP+ rating
20.7 No. 15 of 132; offense No. 14, defense No. 31
SRS
17.6 No. 14 of 137 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Don Todd
Captains
Paul Humphreys, Wilson Whitley and Val Belcher
Offense
Houston Veer

Drafted in 1977

The 1977 draft
Rd 1Wilson Whitley DTCincinnati Bengals
Rd 3Val Belcher OGDallas Cowboys
Rd 4Guy Brown LBDallas Cowboys

All-Southwest Conference

4 first team, 5 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1976 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1976 Southwest Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Houston7–⁠110–⁠24
Texas Tech7–⁠110–⁠213
Texas A&M6–⁠210–⁠27
Baylor4–⁠3–⁠17–⁠3–⁠1
Texas4–⁠45–⁠5–⁠1
Arkansas3–⁠4–⁠15–⁠5–⁠1
Rice2–⁠63–⁠8
SMU2–⁠63–⁠8
TCU0–⁠80–⁠11

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