1971 LSU

9–⁠3 (3–⁠2 Southeastern Conference), coached by Charles McClendon, finished No. 11 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

LSU in 1971, game by game: lost vs. Colorado 21–31; won vs. Texas A&M 37–0; won at Wisconsin 38–28; won vs. Rice 38–3; won vs. Florida 48–7; won at Kentucky 17–13; lost at Ole Miss 22–24; lost vs. No. 4 Alabama 7–14; won at Mississippi State 28–3; won vs. No. 7 Notre Dame 28–8; won vs. Tulane 36–7; won vs. Iowa State 33–15+41−10Lost 21–31 vs. Colorado-10ColoradoWon 37–0 vs. Texas A&M+37Texas A&MWon 38–28 at Wisconsin+10WisconsinWon 38–3 vs. Rice+35RiceWon 48–7 vs. Florida+41FloridaWon 17–13 at Kentucky+4KentuckyLost 22–24 at Ole Miss-2Ole MissLost 7–14 vs. No. 4 Alabama-7No. 4 AlabamaWon 28–3 at Mississippi State+25Mississippi Sta…Won 28–8 vs. No. 7 Notre Dame+20No. 7 Notre DameWon 36–7 vs. Tulane+29TulaneWon 33–15 vs. Iowa State+18Iowa State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 11vsColoradoL 21–⁠3167%
Sep 18vsTexas A&MW 37–⁠080%
Sep 25atWisconsinW 38–⁠2862%
Oct 2vsRiceW 38–⁠382%
Oct 9vsFloridaW 48–⁠780%
Oct 16atKentuckyW 17–⁠1382%
Oct 30atOle MissL 22–⁠2453%
Nov 6vs4AlabamaL 7–⁠1446%
Nov 13atMississippi StateW 28–⁠375%
Nov 20vs7Notre DameW 28–⁠850%
Nov 27vsTulaneW 36–⁠785%
Dec 18vsIowa StateSun BowlW 33–⁠1562%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Iowa State 33–⁠15 in the Sun Bowl; No. 11 in the final AP poll; 6th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 20th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 9
  2. Wk 3: 18
  3. Wk 4: 16
  4. Wk 5: 16
  5. Wk 6: 12
  6. Wk 7: 13
  7. Wk 8: 11
  8. Wk 9: 18
  9. Wk 10: 20
  10. Wk 11: 14
  11. Wk 12: 10
  12. Wk 13: 10
  13. Wk 14: 11
  14. Final: 11

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 1971.

Record
9–⁠3
Conference
3–⁠2 6th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 11 peak No. 9
Points
353–⁠153
Coach
Charles McClendon
Elo
1722 +72 this season
SP+ rating
24.2 No. 6 of 120; offense No. 11, defense No. 9
SRS
25.4 No. 8 of 128 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—

Drafted in 1972

The 1972 draft
Rd 2Tommy Casanova DBCincinnati Bengals
Rd 4Andy Hamilton WRKansas City Chiefs

All-SEC

5 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

  • Jay MichaelsonKAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1971 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1971 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Alabama7–⁠011–⁠14
Georgia5–⁠111–⁠17
Auburn5–⁠19–⁠212
Ole Miss4–⁠210–⁠215
Tennessee4–⁠210–⁠29
LSU3–⁠29–⁠311
Vanderbilt1–⁠54–⁠6–⁠1
Florida1–⁠64–⁠7
Kentucky1–⁠63–⁠8
Mississippi State1–⁠72–⁠9

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