CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1957 Rice

7–⁠4 (5–⁠1 Southwest Conference), coached by Jess Neely, finished No. 8 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Rice in 1957, game by game: won at LSU 20–14; won vs. No. 17 Stanford 34–7; lost vs. No. 5 Duke 6–7; won at SMU 27–21; lost at No. 19 Texas 14–19; lost vs. Clemson 7–20; won vs. No. 12 Arkansas 13–7; won vs. No. 1 Texas A&M 7–6; won at TCU 20–0; won vs. Baylor 20–0; lost vs. No. 8 Navy 7–20+27−13Won 20–14 at LSU+6LSUWon 34–7 vs. No. 17 Stanford+27No. 17 StanfordLost 6–7 vs. No. 5 Duke-1No. 5 DukeWon 27–21 at SMU+6SMULost 14–19 at No. 19 Texas-5No. 19 TexasLost 7–20 vs. Clemson-13ClemsonWon 13–7 vs. No. 12 Arkansas+6No. 12 ArkansasWon 7–6 vs. No. 1 Texas A&M+1No. 1 Texas A&MWon 20–0 at TCU+20TCUWon 20–0 vs. Baylor+20BaylorLost 7–20 vs. No. 8 Navy-13No. 8 Navy
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 21atLSUW 20–⁠1444%
Oct 5vs17StanfordW 34–⁠751%
Oct 12vs5DukeL 6–⁠747%
Oct 19atSMUW 27–⁠2147%
Oct 26at19TexasL 14–⁠1948%
Nov 2vsClemsonL 7–⁠2055%
Nov 9vs12ArkansasW 13–⁠746%
Nov 16vs1Texas A&MW 7–⁠628%
Nov 23atTCUW 20–⁠034%
Nov 30vsBaylorW 20–⁠063%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs8NavyCotton BowlL 7–⁠2035%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Navy 20–⁠7 in the Cotton Bowl; No. 8 in the final AP poll; Southwest Conference champions.

In program history: The 13th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 115 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 2: 18
  2. Wk 4: 15
  3. Wk 5: 19
  4. Wk 6: 13
  5. Wk 9: 20
  6. Wk 10: 13
  7. Wk 11: 9
  8. Final: 8

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 1957.

Southwest Conference champions5–⁠1 in the conference

Led the nationBuddy Dial: yards per catch (24.2)

Consensus All-AmericanKing Hill, QB

Record
7–⁠4
Conference
5–⁠1 first in Southwest Conference
AP final
No. 8 peak No. 8
Points
175–⁠121
Coach
Jess Neely
Elo
1587 +101 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
16.3 No. 15 of 112 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—

Drafted in 1958

The 1958 draft
Rd 1King Hill QBChicago Cardinals
Rd 5Frank Ryan QBLos Angeles Rams

All-Southwest Conference

4 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 1957 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1957 Southwest Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Rice5–⁠17–⁠48
Texas4–⁠1–⁠16–⁠4–⁠111
Texas A&M4–⁠28–⁠39
SMU3–⁠34–⁠5–⁠1
Arkansas2–⁠46–⁠4
TCU2–⁠45–⁠4–⁠1
Baylor0–⁠5–⁠13–⁠6–⁠1

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