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1956 Oklahoma

10–⁠0 (6–⁠0 Big Seven), coached by Bud Wilkinson, finished No. 1 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Oklahoma in 1956, game by game: won vs. North Carolina 36–0; won vs. Kansas State 66–0; won vs. Texas 45–0; won at Kansas 34–12; won at Notre Dame 40–0; won at Colorado 27–19; won at Iowa State 44–0; won vs. Missouri 67–14; won vs. Nebraska 54–6; won at Oklahoma State 53–0+66Won 36–0 vs. North Carolina+36North CarolinaWon 66–0 vs. Kansas State+66Kansas StateWon 45–0 vs. Texas+45TexasWon 34–12 at Kansas+22KansasWon 40–0 at Notre Dame+40Notre DameWon 27–19 at Colorado+8ColoradoWon 44–0 at Iowa State+44Iowa StateWon 67–14 vs. Missouri+53MissouriWon 54–6 vs. Nebraska+48NebraskaWon 53–0 at Oklahoma State+53Oklahoma State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 29vsNorth CarolinaW 36–⁠089%
Oct 6vsKansas StateW 66–⁠089%
Oct 13vsTexasW 45–⁠079%
Oct 20atKansasW 34–⁠1284%
Oct 27atNotre DameW 40–⁠070%
Nov 3atColoradoW 27–⁠1969%
Nov 10atIowa StateW 44–⁠091%
Nov 17vsMissouriW 67–⁠1492%
Nov 24vsNebraskaW 54–⁠692%
Dec 1atOklahoma StateW 53–⁠085%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Oklahoma State 53–⁠0; No. 1 in the final AP poll; Big Seven champions.

In program history: The 7th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 125 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 1
  2. Wk 2: 1
  3. Wk 3: 1
  4. Wk 4: 1
  5. Wk 5: 1
  6. Wk 6: 2
  7. Wk 7: 1
  8. Wk 8: 1
  9. Wk 9: 2
  10. Wk 10: 1
  11. Wk 11: 1
  12. Final: 1

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 1956.

National championsNo. 1 in the final AP poll, and a title the school claims

Big Seven champions6–⁠0 in the conference

Heisman voteTommy McDonald, third; Jerry Tubbs, fourth

Led the nationClendon Thomas: rushing touchdowns (13 TD), points (108 pts)

Maxwell AwardTommy McDonald, RB

2 consensus All-AmericansJerry Tubbs, FB/C/LB; Tommy McDonald, RB

Record
10–⁠0
Conference
6–⁠0 first in Big Seven
AP final
No. 1 peak No. 1
Points
466–⁠51
Coach
Bud Wilkinson
Elo
1821 +100 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
29.9 No. 1 of 111 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Ed Gray and Jerry Tubbs

Drafted in 1957

The 1957 draft
Rd 1Jerry Tubbs CChicago Cardinals
Rd 3Tommy McDonald RBPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 5Jimmy Harris QBPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 6Billy Pricer BBaltimore Colts
Rd 7Ed Gray OTLos Angeles Rams

All-Big Seven

6 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1956 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1956 Big Seven standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Oklahoma6–⁠010–⁠01
Colorado4–⁠1–⁠18–⁠2–⁠120
Missouri3–⁠2–⁠14–⁠5–⁠1
Nebraska3–⁠34–⁠6
Kansas2–⁠43–⁠6–⁠1
Kansas State2–⁠43–⁠7
Iowa State0–⁠62–⁠8

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