CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1973 Missouri

8–⁠4 (3–⁠4 Big Eight), coached by Al Onofrio, finished No. 17 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Missouri in 1973, game by game: won vs. Ole Miss 17–0; won vs. Virginia 31–7; won at North Carolina 27–14; won at No. 19 SMU 17–7; won vs. No. 2 Nebraska 13–12; won vs. Oklahoma State 13–9; lost at Colorado 13–17; won vs. Kansas State 31–7; lost vs. No. 3 Oklahoma 3–31; lost at Iowa State 7–17; lost at No. 20 Kansas 13–14; won vs. Auburn 34–17+24−28Won 17–0 vs. Ole Miss+17Ole MissWon 31–7 vs. Virginia+24VirginiaWon 27–14 at North Carolina+13North CarolinaWon 17–7 at No. 19 SMU+10No. 19 SMUWon 13–12 vs. No. 2 Nebraska+1No. 2 NebraskaWon 13–9 vs. Oklahoma State+4Oklahoma StateLost 13–17 at Colorado-4ColoradoWon 31–7 vs. Kansas State+24Kansas StateLost 3–31 vs. No. 3 Oklahoma-28No. 3 OklahomaLost 7–17 at Iowa State-10Iowa StateLost 13–14 at No. 20 Kansas-1No. 20 KansasWon 34–17 vs. Auburn+17Auburn
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 15vsOle MissW 17–⁠042%
Sep 22vsVirginiaW 31–⁠770%
Sep 29atNorth CarolinaW 27–⁠1434%
Oct 6at19SMUW 17–⁠739%
Oct 13vs2NebraskaW 13–⁠1234%
Oct 20vsOklahoma StateW 13–⁠962%
Oct 27atColoradoL 13–⁠1738%
Nov 3vsKansas StateW 31–⁠771%
Nov 10vs3OklahomaL 3–⁠3131%
Nov 17atIowa StateL 7–⁠1756%
Nov 24at20KansasL 13–⁠1440%
Dec 29Bowls & playoffvsAuburnSun BowlW 34–⁠1742%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Auburn 34–⁠17 in the Sun Bowl; No. 17 in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Big Eight.

In program history: The 37th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 129 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 3: 20
  2. Wk 4: 20
  3. Wk 5: 15
  4. Wk 6: 12
  5. Wk 7: 7
  6. Wk 8: 7
  7. Wk 9: 12
  8. Wk 10: 10
  9. Wk 11: 14
  10. Wk 12: 19
  11. Wk 13: 20
  12. Final: 17
Record
8–⁠4
Conference
3–⁠4 tied for 4th in Big Eight
AP final
No. 17 peak No. 7
Points
219–⁠152
Coach
Al Onofrio
Elo
1593 +130 this season
SP+ rating
17.9 No. 21 of 123; offense No. 62, defense No. 4
SRS
18.0 No. 17 of 129 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—

Drafted in 1974

The 1974 draft
Rd 3Scott Anderson CMinnesota Vikings
Rd 5John Kelsey OTDallas Cowboys

All-Big Eight

4 first team, 1 second team

First team

  • Jim SchnietzOTAP-1; UPI-2
  • Scott AndersonCAP-1; UPI-1
  • Greg HillKUPI-1
  • John MoseleyDBAP-1; UPI-1

Second team

  • Scott PickensLBUPI-2

From Wikipedia’s 1973 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1973 Big Eight standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Oklahoma7–⁠010–⁠0–⁠13
Nebraska4–⁠2–⁠19–⁠2–⁠17
Kansas4–⁠2–⁠17–⁠4–⁠118
Missouri3–⁠48–⁠417
Oklahoma State2–⁠3–⁠25–⁠4–⁠2
Colorado2–⁠55–⁠6
Kansas State2–⁠55–⁠6
Iowa State2–⁠54–⁠7

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