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1939 Missouri

8–⁠2 (5–⁠0 Big Six), coached by Don Faurot, finished No. 6 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Missouri in 1939, game by game: won vs. Colorado 30–0; lost at Ohio State 0–19; won at Washington St. Louis 14–0; won vs. Kansas State 9–7; won at Iowa State 21–6; won vs. No. 10 Nebraska 27–13; won at No. 17 New York University 20–7; won vs. No. 5 Oklahoma 7–6; won at Kansas 20–0; lost vs. No. 13 Georgia Tech 7–21+30−19Won 30–0 vs. Colorado+30ColoradoLost 0–19 at Ohio State-19Ohio StateWon 14–0 at Washington St. Louis+14Washington St. …Won 9–7 vs. Kansas State+2Kansas StateWon 21–6 at Iowa State+15Iowa StateWon 27–13 vs. No. 10 Nebraska+14No. 10 NebraskaWon 20–7 at No. 17 New York University+13No. 17 New York Univer…Won 7–6 vs. No. 5 Oklahoma+1No. 5 OklahomaWon 20–0 at Kansas+20KansasLost 7–21 vs. No. 13 Georgia Tech-14No. 13 Georgia Tech
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 30vsColoradoW 30–⁠058%
Oct 7atOhio StateL 0–⁠1944%
Oct 14atWashington St. LouisW 14–⁠057%
Oct 21vsKansas StateW 9–⁠763%
Oct 28atIowa StateW 21–⁠658%
Nov 4vs10NebraskaW 27–⁠1351%
Nov 11at17New York UniversityW 20–⁠756%
Nov 18vs5OklahomaW 7–⁠650%
Nov 25atKansasW 20–⁠075%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs13Georgia TechOrange BowlL 7–⁠2159%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Georgia Tech 21–⁠7 in the Orange Bowl; No. 6 in the final AP poll; Big Six champions.

In program history: The 24th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 129 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 5: 12
  2. Wk 6: 10
  3. Wk 7: 8
  4. Wk 8: 7
  5. Final: 6

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 1939.

Big Six champions5–⁠0 in the conference

Heisman votePaul Christman, third

Record
8–⁠2
Conference
5–⁠0 first in Big Six
AP final
No. 6 peak No. 6
Points
155–⁠79
Coach
Don Faurot
Elo
1626 +93 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
10.8 No. 22 of 124 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—

All-Big Six

2 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

  • William CunninghamBAP-2
  • Roland OrfEAP-2
  • Kenneth HaasOTAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1939 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1939 Big Six standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Missouri5–⁠08–⁠26
Nebraska4–⁠17–⁠1–⁠118
Oklahoma3–⁠26–⁠2–⁠119
Kansas State1–⁠44–⁠5
Kansas1–⁠42–⁠6
Iowa State1–⁠42–⁠7

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