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1976 Iowa State

8–⁠3 (4–⁠3 Big Eight), coached by Earle Bruce, finished No. 19 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Iowa State in 1976, game by game: won vs. Drake 58–14; won at Air Force 41–6; won vs. Kent State 47–7; lost vs. No. 3 Oklahoma 10–24; won vs. Utah 44–14; won at No. 7 Missouri 21–17; lost at Colorado 14–33; won vs. Kansas State 45–14; won at Kansas 31–17; won vs. No. 9 Nebraska 37–28; lost at No. 16 Oklahoma State 21–42+44−21Won 58–14 vs. Drake+44DrakeWon 41–6 at Air Force+35Air ForceWon 47–7 vs. Kent State+40Kent StateLost 10–24 vs. No. 3 Oklahoma-14No. 3 OklahomaWon 44–14 vs. Utah+30UtahWon 21–17 at No. 7 Missouri+4No. 7 MissouriLost 14–33 at Colorado-19ColoradoWon 45–14 vs. Kansas State+31Kansas StateWon 31–17 at Kansas+14KansasWon 37–28 vs. No. 9 Nebraska+9No. 9 NebraskaLost 21–42 at No. 16 Oklahoma State-21No. 16 Oklahoma State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 11vsDrakeW 58–⁠1474%
Sep 18atAir ForceW 41–⁠652%
Sep 25vsKent StateW 47–⁠767%
Oct 2vs3OklahomaL 10–⁠2431%
Oct 9vsUtahW 44–⁠1481%
Oct 16at7MissouriW 21–⁠1734%
Oct 23atColoradoL 14–⁠3337%
Oct 30vsKansas StateW 45–⁠1481%
Nov 6atKansasW 31–⁠1742%
Nov 13vs9NebraskaW 37–⁠2840%
Nov 20at16Oklahoma StateL 21–⁠4242%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Oklahoma State 42–⁠21; No. 19 in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Big Eight.

In program history: The 11th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 132 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 7: 16
  2. Wk 11: 14
  3. Final: 19
Record
8–⁠3
Conference
4–⁠3 tied for 4th in Big Eight
AP final
No. 19 peak No. 14
Points
369–⁠216
Coach
Earle Bruce
Elo
1593 +120 this season
SP+ rating
19.1 No. 19 of 132; offense No. 1, defense No. 73
SRS
17.6 No. 15 of 137 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Pete Rodriguez
Captains
Dave Greenwood, Tony Hawkins, Wayne Stanley and Maynard Stensrud

Drafted in 1977

The 1977 draft
Rd 4Luther Blue WRDetroit Lions
Rd 7Al Dixon TENew York Giants

All-Big Eight

2 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

  • Wayne StanleyQBAP-2
  • Dexter GreenRBAP-2
  • Mike StensrudMGAP-2
  • Tony HawkinsDBAP-2

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

1976 Big Eight standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Oklahoma5–⁠29–⁠2–⁠15
Oklahoma State5–⁠29–⁠314
Colorado5–⁠28–⁠416
Nebraska4–⁠39–⁠3–⁠19
Iowa State4–⁠38–⁠319
Missouri3–⁠46–⁠5
Kansas2–⁠56–⁠5
Kansas State0–⁠71–⁠10

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