CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1973 LSU

9–⁠3 (5–⁠1 Southeastern Conference), coached by Charles McClendon, finished No. 13 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

LSU in 1973, game by game: won vs. No. 10 Colorado 17–6; won vs. Texas A&M 28–23; won vs. Rice 24–9; won vs. Florida 24–3; won at Auburn 20–6; won vs. Kentucky 28–21; won at South Carolina 33–29; won at Ole Miss 51–14; won vs. Mississippi State 26–7; lost vs. No. 2 Alabama 7–21; lost at Tulane 0–14; lost vs. No. 6 Penn State 9–16+37−14Won 17–6 vs. No. 10 Colorado+11No. 10 ColoradoWon 28–23 vs. Texas A&M+5Texas A&MWon 24–9 vs. Rice+15RiceWon 24–3 vs. Florida+21FloridaWon 20–6 at Auburn+14AuburnWon 28–21 vs. Kentucky+7KentuckyWon 33–29 at South Carolina+4South CarolinaWon 51–14 at Ole Miss+37Ole MissWon 26–7 vs. Mississippi State+19Mississippi Sta…Lost 7–21 vs. No. 2 Alabama-14No. 2 AlabamaLost 0–14 at Tulane-14TulaneLost 9–16 vs. No. 6 Penn State-7No. 6 Penn State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 15vs10ColoradoW 17–⁠661%
Sep 22vsTexas A&MW 28–⁠2379%
Sep 29vsRiceW 24–⁠982%
Oct 6vsFloridaW 24–⁠376%
Oct 13atAuburnW 20–⁠645%
Oct 20vsKentuckyW 28–⁠2187%
Oct 27atSouth CarolinaW 33–⁠2970%
Nov 3atOle MissW 51–⁠1468%
Nov 17vsMississippi StateW 26–⁠786%
Nov 22vs2AlabamaL 7–⁠2151%
Dec 1atTulaneL 0–⁠1466%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs6Penn StateOrange BowlL 9–⁠1636%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Penn State 16–⁠9 in the Orange Bowl; No. 13 in the final AP poll; 2nd in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 29th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 16
  2. Wk 2: 15
  3. Wk 3: 11
  4. Wk 4: 10
  5. Wk 5: 10
  6. Wk 6: 10
  7. Wk 7: 9
  8. Wk 8: 9
  9. Wk 9: 7
  10. Wk 10: 7
  11. Wk 11: 7
  12. Wk 12: 7
  13. Wk 13: 8
  14. Wk 14: 13
  15. Final: 13
Record
9–⁠3
Conference
5–⁠1 2nd in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 13 peak No. 7
Points
267–⁠169
Coach
Charles McClendon
Elo
1678 +41 this season
SP+ rating
22.2 No. 13 of 123; offense No. 31, defense No. 6
SRS
18.7 No. 15 of 129 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—

All-SEC

5 first team, 3 second team

First team

  • Brad BoydTEAP-1
  • Tyler LafauciOGAP-1; UPI
  • Brad DavisRBAP-2; UPI
  • Binks MiciottoDEAP-1
  • Warren CaponeLBAP-1; UPI

Second team

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.