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1996 New Mexico

6–⁠5 (3–⁠5 Western Athletic Conference), coached by Dennis Franchione.

Schedule and results

New Mexico in 1996, game by game: won at New Mexico State 28–7; won vs. Northern Arizona 49–33; won vs. UCF 17–7; lost at BYU 14–17; won vs. TCU 27–7; lost at Rice 21–38; lost vs. San Diego State 42–48; lost at SMU 31–52; won at Tulsa 34–23; lost vs. Utah 24–31; won vs. UTEP 44–17+27−21Won 28–7 at New Mexico State+21New Mexico StateWon 49–33 vs. Northern Arizona+16Northern ArizonaWon 17–7 vs. UCF+10UCFLost 14–17 at BYU-3BYUWon 27–7 vs. TCU+20TCULost 21–38 at Rice-17RiceLost 42–48 vs. San Diego State-6San Diego StateLost 31–52 at SMU-21SMUWon 34–23 at Tulsa+11TulsaLost 24–31 vs. Utah-7UtahWon 44–17 vs. UTEP+27UTEP
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 29atNew Mexico StateW 28–⁠747%
Sep 7vsNorthern ArizonaW 49–⁠3381%
Sep 14vsUCFW 17–⁠778%
Sep 21atBYUL 14–⁠1732%
Sep 28vsTCUW 27–⁠757%
Oct 5atRiceL 21–⁠3856%
Oct 19vsSan Diego StateL 42–⁠4847%
Oct 26atSMUL 31–⁠5259%
Nov 2atTulsaW 34–⁠2342%
Nov 9vsUtahL 24–⁠3137%
Nov 23vsUTEPW 44–⁠1779%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat UTEP 44–⁠17; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 9th in the Western Athletic Conference.

In program history: The 42nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 109 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 1996.

Record
6–⁠5
Conference
3–⁠5 tied for 9th in Western Athletic Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
331–⁠280
Coach
Dennis Franchione
Elo
1449 +8 this season
SP+ rating
-0.3 No. 59 of 111; offense No. 55, defense No. 63
SRS
−2.1 No. 63 of 111 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Dennis Darnell
Defensive coordinator
Gary Patterson
Offense
Multiple
Defense
4–⁠2–⁠5

1996 Western Athletic Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
BYU9–⁠014–⁠15
Wyoming7–⁠110–⁠222
San Diego State6–⁠28–⁠3
Utah6–⁠28–⁠4
Rice6–⁠27–⁠4
Colorado State6–⁠27–⁠5
Air Force5–⁠36–⁠5
SMU4–⁠45–⁠6
New Mexico3–⁠56–⁠5
Fresno State3–⁠54–⁠7
TCU3–⁠54–⁠7
San José State3–⁠53–⁠9
Tulsa2–⁠64–⁠7
Hawai’i1–⁠72–⁠10
UNLV1–⁠81–⁠11
UTEP0–⁠82–⁠9

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