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1973 Kentucky

5–⁠6 (3–⁠4 Southeastern Conference), coached by Fran Curci.

Schedule and results

Kentucky in 1973, game by game: won vs. Virginia Tech 31–26; lost vs. No. 4 Alabama 14–28; lost at Indiana 3–17; won at Mississippi State 42–14; lost vs. North Carolina 10–16; lost at No. 9 LSU 21–28; won at Georgia 12–7; won vs. No. 14 Tulane 34–7; won at Vanderbilt 27–17; lost at Florida 18–20; lost vs. Tennessee 14–16+28−14Won 31–26 vs. Virginia Tech+5Virginia TechLost 14–28 vs. No. 4 Alabama-14No. 4 AlabamaLost 3–17 at Indiana-14IndianaWon 42–14 at Mississippi State+28Mississippi Sta…Lost 10–16 vs. North Carolina-6North CarolinaLost 21–28 at No. 9 LSU-7No. 9 LSUWon 12–7 at Georgia+5GeorgiaWon 34–7 vs. No. 14 Tulane+27No. 14 TulaneWon 27–17 at Vanderbilt+10VanderbiltLost 18–20 at Florida-2FloridaLost 14–16 vs. Tennessee-2Tennessee
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 15vsVirginia TechW 31–⁠2646%
Sep 22vs4AlabamaL 14–⁠2824%
Sep 29atIndianaL 3–⁠1748%
Oct 6atMississippi StateW 42–⁠1429%
Oct 13vsNorth CarolinaL 10–⁠1647%
Oct 20at9LSUL 21–⁠2813%
Oct 27atGeorgiaW 12–⁠722%
Nov 3vs14TulaneW 34–⁠737%
Nov 10atVanderbiltW 27–⁠1750%
Nov 17atFloridaL 18–⁠2043%
Nov 24vsTennesseeL 14–⁠1639%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Tennessee 16–⁠14; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 5th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 47th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 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 1973.

Record
5–⁠6
Conference
3–⁠4 tied for 5th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
226–⁠196
Coach
Fran Curci
Elo
1514 +92 this season
SP+ rating
10.5 No. 35 of 123; offense No. 53, defense No. 36
SRS
10.7 No. 28 of 129 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Jon Mirilovich
Defensive coordinator
Bill Narduzzi

Drafted in 1974

The 1974 draft
Rd 4Frank LeMaster LBPhiladelphia Eagles

All-SEC

3 first team, 1 second team

First team

  • Sonny CollinsRBAP-1; UPI
  • Jim McCollumDEUPI
  • Darryl BishopDBAP-2; UPI

Second team

  • Harvey SwordOTAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1973 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1973 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Alabama8–⁠011–⁠14
LSU5–⁠19–⁠313
Ole Miss4–⁠36–⁠5
Tennessee3–⁠38–⁠419
Georgia3–⁠47–⁠4–⁠1
Florida3–⁠47–⁠5
Kentucky3–⁠45–⁠6
Auburn2–⁠56–⁠6
Mississippi State2–⁠54–⁠5–⁠2
Vanderbilt1–⁠55–⁠6

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