CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1956 Kansas State

3–⁠7 (2–⁠4 Big Seven), coached by Bernard Mertes.

Schedule and results

Kansas State in 1956, game by game: lost vs. Oklahoma State 7–27; lost at Colorado 0–34; lost at No. 1 Oklahoma 0–66; won at Nebraska 10–7; lost vs. Missouri 6–20; lost at Wyoming 15–27; lost vs. Kansas 15–20; won at Marquette 41–14; won vs. Iowa State 32–6; lost at No. 10 Michigan State 17–38+27−66Lost 7–27 vs. Oklahoma State-20Oklahoma StateLost 0–34 at Colorado-34ColoradoLost 0–66 at No. 1 Oklahoma-66No. 1 OklahomaWon 10–7 at Nebraska+3NebraskaLost 6–20 vs. Missouri-14MissouriLost 15–27 at Wyoming-12WyomingLost 15–20 vs. Kansas-5KansasWon 41–14 at Marquette+27MarquetteWon 32–6 vs. Iowa State+26Iowa StateLost 17–38 at No. 10 Michigan State-21No. 10 Michigan State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 22vsOklahoma StateL 7–⁠2762%
Sep 29atColoradoL 0–⁠3435%
Oct 6at1OklahomaL 0–⁠6611%
Oct 13atNebraskaW 10–⁠732%
Oct 20vsMissouriL 6–⁠2064%
Oct 27atWyomingL 15–⁠2715%
Nov 3vsKansasL 15–⁠2052%
Nov 10atMarquetteW 41–⁠1453%
Nov 17vsIowa StateW 32–⁠666%
Nov 24at10Michigan StateL 17–⁠3812%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Michigan State 38–⁠17; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 5th in the Big Seven.

In program history: The 75th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 125 on file).

Record
3–⁠7
Conference
2–⁠4 tied for 5th in Big Seven
AP final
Unranked
Points
143–⁠259
Coach
Bernard Mertes
Elo
1417 −67 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
−6.3 No. 79 of 111 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—

All-Big Seven

1 first team

First team

  • Ellis RainsbergerOGAP-2; UP-1

From Wikipedia’s 1956 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1956 Big Seven standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Oklahoma6–⁠010–⁠01
Colorado4–⁠1–⁠18–⁠2–⁠120
Missouri3–⁠2–⁠14–⁠5–⁠1
Nebraska3–⁠34–⁠6
Kansas2–⁠43–⁠6–⁠1
Kansas State2–⁠43–⁠7
Iowa State0–⁠62–⁠8

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