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1961 Rice

7–⁠4 (5–⁠2 Southwest Conference), coached by Jess Neely, finished No. 17 in the AP poll.

1961 team portrait from The Campanile
1961 team portrait from The CampanilePhoto: not named, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Schedule and results

Rice in 1961, game by game: won vs. LSU 16–3; lost at Georgia Tech 0–24; won vs. Florida 19–10; won vs. SMU 10–0; lost at Texas 7–34; won at Texas Tech 42–7; lost vs. Arkansas 0–10; won vs. Texas A&M 21–7; won at TCU 35–16; won vs. Baylor 26–14; lost vs. Kansas 7–33+35−27Won 16–3 vs. LSU+13LSULost 0–24 at Georgia Tech-24Georgia TechWon 19–10 vs. Florida+9FloridaWon 10–0 vs. SMU+10SMULost 7–34 at Texas-27TexasWon 42–7 at Texas Tech+35Texas TechLost 0–10 vs. Arkansas-10ArkansasWon 21–7 vs. Texas A&M+14Texas A&MWon 35–16 at TCU+19TCUWon 26–14 vs. Baylor+12BaylorLost 7–33 vs. Kansas-26Kansas
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 23vsLSUW 16–⁠353%
Sep 30atGeorgia TechL 0–⁠2443%
Oct 14vsFloridaW 19–⁠1049%
Oct 21vsSMUW 10–⁠080%
Oct 28atTexasL 7–⁠3426%
Nov 4atTexas TechW 42–⁠762%
Nov 11vsArkansasL 0–⁠1054%
Nov 18vsTexas A&MW 21–⁠764%
Nov 25atTCUW 35–⁠1652%
Dec 2vsBaylorW 26–⁠1465%
Dec 16Bowls & playoffvsKansasBluebonnet BowlL 7–⁠3345%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Kansas 33–⁠7 in the Bluebonnet Bowl; No. 17 in the final AP poll; 3rd in the Southwest Conference.

In program history: The 11th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 115 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 2: 7
  2. Final: 17

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 1961.

Record
7–⁠4
Conference
5–⁠2 3rd in Southwest Conference
AP final
No. 17 peak No. 7
Points
183–⁠158
Coach
Jess Neely
Elo
1603 +48 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
14.7 No. 16 of 111 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Ray Alborn, John Burrell and Roland Jackson
Most valuable player
Les “Butch” Blume

Drafted in 1962

The 1962 draft
Rd 3John Cornett OTLos Angeles Rams
Rd 7John Burrell ESan Francisco 49ers
Rd 5John Cornett OTSan Diego Chargers (AFL)

All-Southwest Conference

3 first team

First team

  • Roland JacksonBAP-1; UPI-1
  • John BurrellEAP-1
  • Robert JohnstonOTAP-1

From Wikipedia’s 1961 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1961 Southwest Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Texas6–⁠110–⁠13
Arkansas6–⁠18–⁠39
Rice5–⁠27–⁠417
Texas A&M3–⁠44–⁠5–⁠1
TCU2–⁠4–⁠13–⁠5–⁠2
Baylor2–⁠56–⁠5
Texas Tech2–⁠54–⁠6
SMU1–⁠5–⁠12–⁠7–⁠1

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