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1953 Rice

9–⁠2 (5–⁠1 Southwest Conference), coached by Jess Neely, finished No. 6 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Rice in 1953, game by game: won vs. Florida 20–16; won at Cornell 28–7; won vs. Hardin Simmons 40–0; lost at SMU 7–12; won at Texas 18–13; lost vs. No. 19 Kentucky 13–19; won vs. Arkansas 47–0; won vs. Texas A&M 34–7; won at TCU 19–6; won vs. No. 17 Baylor 41–19; won vs. Alabama 28–6+47−6Won 20–16 vs. Florida+4FloridaWon 28–7 at Cornell+21CornellWon 40–0 vs. Hardin Simmons+40Hardin SimmonsLost 7–12 at SMU-5SMUWon 18–13 at Texas+5TexasLost 13–19 vs. No. 19 Kentucky-6No. 19 KentuckyWon 47–0 vs. Arkansas+47ArkansasWon 34–7 vs. Texas A&M+27Texas A&MWon 19–6 at TCU+13TCUWon 41–19 vs. No. 17 Baylor+22No. 17 BaylorWon 28–6 vs. Alabama+22Alabama
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 19vsFloridaW 20–⁠1649%
Oct 3atCornellW 28–⁠749%
Oct 10vsHardin SimmonsW 40–⁠075%
Oct 17atSMUL 7–⁠1251%
Oct 24atTexasW 18–⁠1332%
Oct 31vs19KentuckyL 13–⁠1957%
Nov 7vsArkansasW 47–⁠074%
Nov 14vsTexas A&MW 34–⁠772%
Nov 21atTCUW 19–⁠659%
Nov 28vs17BaylorW 41–⁠1961%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvsAlabamaCotton BowlW 28–⁠650%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Alabama 28–⁠6 in the Cotton Bowl; No. 6 in the final AP poll; Southwest Conference champions.

In program history: The 2nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 115 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 12
  2. Wk 2: 14
  3. Wk 3: 11
  4. Wk 4: 11
  5. Wk 6: 12
  6. Wk 8: 16
  7. Wk 9: 10
  8. Wk 10: 8
  9. Final: 6

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 1953.

Southwest Conference champions5–⁠1 in the conference, shared with Texas

Record
9–⁠2
Conference
5–⁠1 shared first in Southwest Conference
AP final
No. 6 peak No. 6
Points
295–⁠105
Coach
Jess Neely
Elo
1693 +162 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
22.7 No. 3 of 110 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—

Drafted in 1954

The 1954 draft
Rd 1Dick Chapman OTDetroit Lions
Rd 2Leo Rucka CSan Francisco 49ers
Rd 6John Hudson OGChicago Bears

All-Southwest Conference

3 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1953 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1953 Southwest Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Rice5–⁠19–⁠26
Texas5–⁠17–⁠311
Baylor4–⁠27–⁠3
SMU3–⁠35–⁠5
Arkansas2–⁠43–⁠7
Texas A&M1–⁠54–⁠5–⁠1
TCU1–⁠53–⁠7

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