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1949 Rice

10–⁠1 (6–⁠0 Southwest Conference), coached by Jess Neely, finished No. 5 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Rice in 1949, game by game: won vs. Clemson 33–7; lost at LSU 7–14; won vs. New Mexico 55–0; won at No. 10 SMU 41–27; won at No. 10 Texas 17–15; won vs. Texas Tech 28–0; won vs. Arkansas 14–0; won vs. Texas A&M 13–0; won at TCU 20–14; won vs. No. 9 Baylor 21–7; won vs. No. 19 North Carolina 27–13+55−7Won 33–7 vs. Clemson+26ClemsonLost 7–14 at LSU-7LSUWon 55–0 vs. New Mexico+55New MexicoWon 41–27 at No. 10 SMU+14No. 10 SMUWon 17–15 at No. 10 Texas+2No. 10 TexasWon 28–0 vs. Texas Tech+28Texas TechWon 14–0 vs. Arkansas+14ArkansasWon 13–0 vs. Texas A&M+13Texas A&MWon 20–14 at TCU+6TCUWon 21–7 vs. No. 9 Baylor+14No. 9 BaylorWon 27–13 vs. No. 19 North Carolina+14No. 19 North Carolina
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 24vsClemsonW 33–⁠753%
Oct 1atLSUL 7–⁠1463%
Oct 8vsNew MexicoW 55–⁠084%
Oct 15at10SMUW 41–⁠2730%
Oct 22at10TexasW 17–⁠1534%
Oct 29vsTexas TechW 28–⁠073%
Nov 5vsArkansasW 14–⁠075%
Nov 12vsTexas A&MW 13–⁠089%
Nov 19atTCUW 20–⁠1459%
Nov 26vs9BaylorW 21–⁠758%
Jan 2Bowls & playoffvs19North CarolinaCotton BowlW 27–⁠1358%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat North Carolina 27–⁠13 in the Cotton Bowl; No. 5 in the final AP poll; Southwest Conference champions.

In program history: The best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 115 on file).

AP poll, week by week

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

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 1949.

Southwest Conference champions6–⁠0 in the conference

Consensus All-AmericanJames “Froggy” Williams, E

Record
10–⁠1
Conference
6–⁠0 first in Southwest Conference
AP final
No. 5 peak No. 5
Points
276–⁠97
Coach
Jess Neely
Elo
1732 +165 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
19.1 No. 11 of 119 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—

Drafted in 1950

The 1950 draft
Rd 1Joe Watson CDetroit Lions
Rd 2Tobin Rote QBGreen Bay Packers

All-Southwest Conference

4 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

  • Gordon WyattBUP-2
  • Bobby LantripBAP-2
  • Jack WolcottEAP-2
  • Carl SchwarzOGAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1949 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1949 Southwest Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Rice6–⁠010–⁠15
Baylor4–⁠28–⁠220
TCU3–⁠36–⁠3–⁠1
Texas3–⁠36–⁠4
SMU2–⁠3–⁠15–⁠4–⁠1
Arkansas2–⁠45–⁠5
Texas A&M0–⁠5–⁠11–⁠8–⁠1

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