CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1972 Rice

5–⁠5–⁠1 (3–⁠4 Southwest Conference), coached by Al Conover.

Schedule and results

Rice in 1972, game by game: won vs. Houston 14–13; won vs. Clemson 29–10; tied at Georgia Tech 36–36; lost vs. No. 8 LSU 6–12; lost at SMU 14–29; lost vs. No. 10 Texas 9–45; lost vs. No. 18 Texas Tech 6–10; won at Arkansas 23–20; won at Texas A&M 20–14; won vs. TCU 25–21; lost at Baylor 14–28+19−36Won 14–13 vs. Houston+1HoustonWon 29–10 vs. Clemson+19ClemsonTied 36–36 at Georgia Tech0Georgia TechLost 6–12 vs. No. 8 LSU-6No. 8 LSULost 14–29 at SMU-15SMULost 9–45 vs. No. 10 Texas-36No. 10 TexasLost 6–10 vs. No. 18 Texas Tech-4No. 18 Texas TechWon 23–20 at Arkansas+3ArkansasWon 20–14 at Texas A&M+6Texas A&MWon 25–21 vs. TCU+4TCULost 14–28 at Baylor-14Baylor
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 9vsHoustonW 14–⁠1332%
Sep 23vsClemsonW 29–⁠1055%
Sep 30atGeorgia TechT 36–⁠3632%
Oct 7vs8LSUL 6–⁠1231%
Oct 21atSMUL 14–⁠2936%
Oct 28vs10TexasL 9–⁠4529%
Nov 4vs18Texas TechL 6–⁠1033%
Nov 11atArkansasW 23–⁠2023%
Nov 18atTexas A&MW 20–⁠1441%
Nov 25vsTCUW 25–⁠2154%
Dec 2atBaylorL 14–⁠2853%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Baylor 28–⁠14; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Southwest Conference.

In program history: The 48th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 115 on file).

Record
5–⁠5–⁠1
Conference
3–⁠4 tied for 4th in Southwest Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
196–⁠238
Coach
Al Conover
Elo
1456 +14 this season
SP+ rating
7.1 No. 46 of 121; offense No. 49, defense No. 45
SRS
6.7 No. 42 of 127 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—

Drafted in 1973

The 1973 draft
Rd 2Gary Butler TEKansas City Chiefs
Rd 7Rodrigo Barnes LBDallas Cowboys

All-Southwest Conference

4 first team, 1 second team

First team

  • Gary ButlerTEAP-1; UPI-1
  • Ed CollinsWRAP-1
  • Ron WaedemonOTAP-1; UPI-1
  • Bruce HenleyDBAP-1; UPI-1

Second team

  • Larry WallingDEUPI-2

From Wikipedia’s 1972 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1972 Southwest Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Texas7–⁠010–⁠13
Texas Tech4–⁠38–⁠4
SMU4–⁠37–⁠4
Arkansas3–⁠46–⁠5
Rice3–⁠45–⁠5–⁠1
Baylor3–⁠45–⁠6
TCU2–⁠55–⁠6
Texas A&M2–⁠53–⁠8

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