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1961 LSU

10–⁠1 (6–⁠0 Southeastern Conference), coached by Paul Dietzel, finished No. 4 in the AP poll.

Official team portrait from 1962 Gumbo
Official team portrait from 1962 GumboPhoto: not named, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Schedule and results

LSU in 1961, game by game: lost at Rice 3–16; won vs. Texas A&M 16–7; won vs. Georgia Tech 10–0; won at South Carolina 42–0; won vs. Kentucky 24–14; won at Florida 23–0; won vs. Ole Miss 10–7; won at North Carolina 30–0; won vs. Mississippi State 14–6; won vs. Tulane 62–0; won vs. No. 6 Colorado 25–7+62−13Lost 3–16 at Rice-13RiceWon 16–7 vs. Texas A&M+9Texas A&MWon 10–0 vs. Georgia Tech+10Georgia TechWon 42–0 at South Carolina+42South CarolinaWon 24–14 vs. Kentucky+10KentuckyWon 23–0 at Florida+23FloridaWon 10–7 vs. Ole Miss+3Ole MissWon 30–0 at North Carolina+30North CarolinaWon 14–6 vs. Mississippi State+8Mississippi Sta…Won 62–0 vs. Tulane+62TulaneWon 25–7 vs. No. 6 Colorado+18No. 6 Colorado
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 23atRiceL 3–⁠1647%
Sep 30vsTexas A&MW 16–⁠773%
Oct 7vsGeorgia TechW 10–⁠054%
Oct 14atSouth CarolinaW 42–⁠062%
Oct 21vsKentuckyW 24–⁠1470%
Oct 28atFloridaW 23–⁠047%
Nov 4vsOle MissW 10–⁠744%
Nov 11atNorth CarolinaW 30–⁠069%
Nov 18vsMississippi StateW 14–⁠682%
Nov 25vsTulaneW 62–⁠089%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs6ColoradoOrange BowlW 25–⁠765%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Colorado 25–⁠7 in the Orange Bowl; No. 4 in the final AP poll; Southeastern Conference champions.

In program history: The 10th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 5
  2. Wk 5: 10
  3. Wk 6: 7
  4. Wk 7: 6
  5. Wk 8: 4
  6. Wk 9: 4
  7. Wk 10: 4
  8. Wk 11: 3
  9. Final: 4

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 1961.

Southeastern Conference champions6–⁠0 in the conference, shared with Alabama

Consensus All-AmericanRoy Winston, OG

Record
10–⁠1
Conference
6–⁠0 shared first in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 4 peak No. 3
Points
259–⁠57
Coach
Paul Dietzel
Elo
1742 +155 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
25.6 No. 4 of 111 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Roy Winston

Drafted in 1962

The 1962 draft
Rd 1Wendell Harris BBaltimore Colts
Rd 1Earl Gros BGreen Bay Packers
Rd 4Roy Winston OGMinnesota Vikings
Rd 7Fred Miller OTBaltimore Colts
Rd 2Earl Gros FBHouston Oilers (AFL)
Rd 6Roy Winston LBSan Diego Chargers (AFL)
Rd 7Wendell Harris CBSan Diego Chargers (AFL)

All-SEC

3 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

  • Billy BoothOTAP-2; UPI-3
  • Monk GuillotOGAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1961 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1961 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Alabama7–⁠011–⁠01
LSU6–⁠010–⁠14
Ole Miss5–⁠19–⁠25
Georgia Tech4–⁠37–⁠413
Tennessee4–⁠36–⁠4
Florida3–⁠34–⁠5–⁠1
Auburn3–⁠46–⁠4
Kentucky2–⁠45–⁠5
Georgia2–⁠53–⁠7
Mississippi State1–⁠55–⁠5
Tulane1–⁠52–⁠8
Vanderbilt1–⁠62–⁠8

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