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1972 Mississippi State

4–⁠7 (1–⁠6 Southeastern Conference), coached by Charles Shira.

Schedule and results

Mississippi State in 1972, game by game: lost vs. Auburn 3–14; won vs. UL Monroe 42–7; won at Vanderbilt 10–6; lost at Florida 13–28; lost at Kentucky 13–17; lost vs. Florida State 21–25; won vs. Southern Miss 26–7; won vs. Houston 27–13; lost at No. 2 Alabama 14–58; lost at No. 8 LSU 14–28; lost at Ole Miss 14–51+35−44Lost 3–14 vs. Auburn-11AuburnWon 42–7 vs. UL Monroe+35UL MonroeWon 10–6 at Vanderbilt+4VanderbiltLost 13–28 at Florida-15FloridaLost 13–17 at Kentucky-4KentuckyLost 21–25 vs. Florida State-4Florida StateWon 26–7 vs. Southern Miss+19Southern MissWon 27–13 vs. Houston+14HoustonLost 14–58 at No. 2 Alabama-44No. 2 AlabamaLost 14–28 at No. 8 LSU-14No. 8 LSULost 14–51 at Ole Miss-37Ole Miss
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 9vsAuburnL 3–⁠1428%
Sep 16vsUL MonroeW 42–⁠782%
Sep 23atVanderbiltW 10–⁠636%
Sep 30atFloridaL 13–⁠2835%
Oct 7atKentuckyL 13–⁠1740%
Oct 14vsFlorida StateL 21–⁠2532%
Oct 21vsSouthern MissW 26–⁠744%
Oct 28vsHoustonW 27–⁠1335%
Nov 4at2AlabamaL 14–⁠5811%
Nov 18at8LSUL 14–⁠2815%
Nov 25atOle MissL 14–⁠5125%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Ole Miss 51–⁠14; unranked in the final AP poll; 9th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 92nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 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 1972.

Record
4–⁠7
Conference
1–⁠6 9th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
197–⁠254
Coach
Charles Shira
Elo
1431 +20 this season
SP+ rating
5.4 No. 51 of 121; offense No. 52, defense No. 50
SRS
3.9 No. 49 of 127 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—

Drafted in 1973

The 1973 draft
Rd 2Ken Phares DBPittsburgh Steelers

All-SEC

2 first team, 2 second team

First team

  • Bill BuckleyWRAP-1
  • Frank DowsingDBUPI

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1972 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1972 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Alabama7–⁠110–⁠27
Auburn6–⁠110–⁠15
LSU4–⁠1–⁠19–⁠2–⁠111
Tennessee4–⁠210–⁠28
Georgia4–⁠37–⁠4
Florida3–⁠3–⁠15–⁠5–⁠1
Ole Miss2–⁠55–⁠5
Kentucky2–⁠53–⁠8
Mississippi State1–⁠64–⁠7
Vanderbilt0–⁠63–⁠8

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