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1981 Missouri

8–⁠4 (3–⁠4 Big Eight), coached by Warren Powers, finished No. 19 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Missouri in 1981, game by game: won vs. Army 24–10; won vs. Rice 42–10; won vs. Louisville 34–3; won at No. 9 Mississippi State 14–3; won vs. Kansas State 58–13; lost at Iowa State 13–34; lost vs. No. 15 Nebraska 0–6; lost vs. Oklahoma State 12–16; won at Colorado 30–14; won vs. No. 15 Oklahoma 19–14; lost at Kansas 11–19; won vs. No. 18 Southern Miss 19–17+45−21Won 24–10 vs. Army+14ArmyWon 42–10 vs. Rice+32RiceWon 34–3 vs. Louisville+31LouisvilleWon 14–3 at No. 9 Mississippi State+11No. 9 Mississippi Sta…Won 58–13 vs. Kansas State+45Kansas StateLost 13–34 at Iowa State-21Iowa StateLost 0–6 vs. No. 15 Nebraska-6No. 15 NebraskaLost 12–16 vs. Oklahoma State-4Oklahoma StateWon 30–14 at Colorado+16ColoradoWon 19–14 vs. No. 15 Oklahoma+5No. 15 OklahomaLost 11–19 at Kansas-8KansasWon 19–17 vs. No. 18 Southern Miss+2No. 18 Southern Miss
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 12vsArmyW 24–⁠1080%
Sep 19vsRiceW 42–⁠1076%
Sep 26vsLouisvilleW 34–⁠369%
Oct 3at9Mississippi StateW 14–⁠345%
Oct 10vsKansas StateW 58–⁠1387%
Oct 17atIowa StateL 13–⁠3466%
Oct 24vs15NebraskaL 0–⁠648%
Oct 31vsOklahoma StateL 12–⁠1668%
Nov 7atColoradoW 30–⁠1473%
Nov 14vs15OklahomaW 19–⁠1447%
Nov 21atKansasL 11–⁠1955%
Dec 19Bowls & playoffvs18Southern MissTangerine BowlW 19–⁠1736%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Southern Miss 19–⁠17 in the Tangerine Bowl; No. 19 in the final AP poll; 5th in the Big Eight.

In program history: The 34th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 129 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 6: 13
  2. Wk 7: 8
  3. Wk 8: 19
  4. Final: 19

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 1981.

Record
8–⁠4
Conference
3–⁠4 5th in Big Eight
AP final
No. 19 peak No. 8
Points
276–⁠159
Coach
Warren Powers
Elo
1605 +20 this season
SP+ rating
13.7 No. 26 of 132; offense No. 45, defense No. 19
SRS
13.4 No. 24 of 137 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Carl Reese

Drafted in 1982

The 1982 draft
Rd 2Brad Edelman CNew Orleans Saints
Rd 4Jeff Gaylord LBLos Angeles Rams

All-Big Eight

3 first team, 6 second team

First team

  • Jeff GaylordDTAP-1; UPI-1
  • Kevin PotterDBAP-1; UPI-1
  • Ron VerrilliPlace-kickerAP-1

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1981 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1981 Big Eight standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Nebraska7–⁠09–⁠311
Oklahoma4–⁠2–⁠17–⁠4–⁠120
Kansas4–⁠38–⁠4
Oklahoma State4–⁠37–⁠5
Missouri3–⁠48–⁠419
Iowa State2–⁠4–⁠15–⁠5–⁠1
Colorado2–⁠53–⁠8
Kansas State1–⁠62–⁠9

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