CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1980 Kansas

4–⁠5–⁠2 (3–⁠3–⁠1 Big Eight), coached by Don Fambrough.

Schedule and results

Kansas in 1980, game by game: tied at Oregon 7–7; lost vs. No. 5 Pittsburgh 3–18; lost vs. Louisville 9–17; won at Syracuse 23–8; lost vs. No. 10 Nebraska 0–54; won vs. No. 19 Iowa State 28–17; tied at Oklahoma State 14–14; won at Kansas State 20–18; lost vs. No. 11 Oklahoma 19–21; won at Colorado 42–3; lost at Missouri 6–31+39−54Tied 7–7 at Oregon0OregonLost 3–18 vs. No. 5 Pittsburgh-15No. 5 PittsburghLost 9–17 vs. Louisville-8LouisvilleWon 23–8 at Syracuse+15SyracuseLost 0–54 vs. No. 10 Nebraska-54No. 10 NebraskaWon 28–17 vs. No. 19 Iowa State+11No. 19 Iowa StateTied 14–14 at Oklahoma State0Oklahoma StateWon 20–18 at Kansas State+2Kansas StateLost 19–21 vs. No. 11 Oklahoma-2No. 11 OklahomaWon 42–3 at Colorado+39ColoradoLost 6–31 at Missouri-25Missouri
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 13atOregonT 7–⁠734%
Sep 20vs5PittsburghL 3–⁠1823%
Sep 27vsLouisvilleL 9–⁠1757%
Oct 4atSyracuseW 23–⁠820%
Oct 11vs10NebraskaL 0–⁠5422%
Oct 18vs19Iowa StateW 28–⁠1737%
Oct 25atOklahoma StateT 14–⁠1441%
Nov 1atKansas StateW 20–⁠1848%
Nov 8vs11OklahomaL 19–⁠2122%
Nov 15atColoradoW 42–⁠357%
Nov 22atMissouriL 6–⁠3123%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Missouri 31–⁠6; unranked in the final AP poll; 4th in the Big Eight.

In program history: The 73rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 131 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 1980.

Record
4–⁠5–⁠2
Conference
3–⁠3–⁠1 4th in Big Eight
AP final
Unranked
Points
171–⁠208
Coach
Don Fambrough
Elo
1461 +58 this season
SP+ rating
9.8 No. 39 of 133; offense No. 73, defense No. 21
SRS
8.6 No. 33 of 138 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Harry Sydney and Frank Wattlelet

Drafted in 1981

The 1981 draft
Rd 1David Verser WRCincinnati Bengals

All-Big Eight

5 first team, 1 second team

First team

  • Kerwin BellRBAP-1; UPI-1
  • David VerserWRAP-1; UPI-1
  • Stan GardnerNGAP-1; UPI-1
  • Joe TumpichDBAP-2; UPI-1
  • Bucky ScribnerPAP-1; UPI-1

Second team

  • Jeff FoxDTAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1980 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1980 Big Eight standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Oklahoma7–⁠010–⁠23
Nebraska6–⁠110–⁠27
Missouri5–⁠28–⁠4
Kansas3–⁠3–⁠14–⁠5–⁠2
Oklahoma State2–⁠4–⁠13–⁠7–⁠1
Iowa State2–⁠56–⁠5
Kansas State1–⁠63–⁠8
Colorado1–⁠61–⁠10

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