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1985 Kansas

6–⁠6 (2–⁠5 Big Eight), coached by Mike Gottfried.

Schedule and results

Kansas in 1985, game by game: won at Hawai’i 33–27; won vs. Vanderbilt 42–16; won vs. Indiana State 37–10; lost at No. 4 Florida State 20–24; won vs. Eastern Illinois 44–20; lost at Iowa State 21–22; won vs. Kansas State 38–7; lost vs. No. 12 Oklahoma State 10–17; lost at No. 9 Oklahoma 6–48; lost vs. Colorado 3–14; lost at No. 2 Nebraska 6–56; won vs. Missouri 34–20+31−50Won 33–27 at Hawai’i+6Hawai’iWon 42–16 vs. Vanderbilt+26VanderbiltWon 37–10 vs. Indiana State+27Indiana StateLost 20–24 at No. 4 Florida State-4No. 4 Florida StateWon 44–20 vs. Eastern Illinois+24Eastern IllinoisLost 21–22 at Iowa State-1Iowa StateWon 38–7 vs. Kansas State+31Kansas StateLost 10–17 vs. No. 12 Oklahoma State-7No. 12 Oklahoma StateLost 6–48 at No. 9 Oklahoma-42No. 9 OklahomaLost 3–14 vs. Colorado-11ColoradoLost 6–56 at No. 2 Nebraska-50No. 2 NebraskaWon 34–20 vs. Missouri+14Missouri
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 31atHawai’iW 33–⁠2739%
Sep 14vsVanderbiltW 42–⁠1663%
Sep 21vsIndiana StateW 37–⁠1079%
Sep 28at4Florida StateL 20–⁠2427%
Oct 5vsEastern IllinoisW 44–⁠2087%
Oct 12atIowa StateL 21–⁠2264%
Oct 19vsKansas StateW 38–⁠784%
Oct 26vs12Oklahoma StateL 10–⁠1742%
Nov 2at9OklahomaL 6–⁠4828%
Nov 9vsColoradoL 3–⁠1465%
Nov 16at2NebraskaL 6–⁠5614%
Nov 23vsMissouriW 34–⁠2075%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Missouri 34–⁠20; unranked in the final AP poll; 6th in the Big Eight.

In program history: The 61st-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 131 on file).

Record
6–⁠6
Conference
2–⁠5 6th in Big Eight
AP final
Unranked
Points
294–⁠281
Coach
Mike Gottfried
Elo
1485 −8 this season
SP+ rating
3.5 No. 48 of 106; offense No. 42, defense No. 56
SRS
1.0 No. 55 of 110 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Sylvester Byrd, Skip Peete, Willie Pless and Mike Norseth

Drafted in 1986

The 1986 draft
Rd 3Alvin Walton DBWashington Redskins
Rd 6Lynn Williams RBLos Angeles Rams
Rd 7Mike Norseth QBCleveland Browns
Rd 7Johnny Holloway WRDallas Cowboys

All-Big Eight

2 first team, 3 second team

First team

  • Richard EstellWRAP-1; UPI-1
  • Willie PlessLBAP-1; UPI-1

Second team

  • Mike NorsethQBAP-2; UPI-2
  • Jim DavisOTUPI-2
  • Jeff JohnsonPlace-kickerAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1985 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1985 Big Eight standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Oklahoma7–⁠011–⁠11
Nebraska6–⁠19–⁠311
Oklahoma State4–⁠38–⁠4
Colorado4–⁠37–⁠5
Iowa State3–⁠45–⁠6
Kansas2–⁠56–⁠6
Kansas State1–⁠61–⁠10
Missouri1–⁠61–⁠10

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