CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1973 Rice

5–⁠6 (4–⁠3 Southwest Conference), coached by Al Conover.

Schedule and results

Rice in 1973, game by game: lost at No. 18 Houston 6–24; won vs. Montana 21–10; lost at No. 10 LSU 9–24; lost vs. No. 9 Notre Dame 0–28; lost vs. SMU 16–27; lost at No. 19 Texas 13–55; lost at No. 15 Texas Tech 6–19; won vs. Arkansas 17–7; won vs. Texas A&M 24–20; won at TCU 14–9; won vs. Baylor 27–0+27−42Lost 6–24 at No. 18 Houston-18No. 18 HoustonWon 21–10 vs. Montana+11MontanaLost 9–24 at No. 10 LSU-15No. 10 LSULost 0–28 vs. No. 9 Notre Dame-28No. 9 Notre DameLost 16–27 vs. SMU-11SMULost 13–55 at No. 19 Texas-42No. 19 TexasLost 6–19 at No. 15 Texas Tech-13No. 15 Texas TechWon 17–7 vs. Arkansas+10ArkansasWon 24–20 vs. Texas A&M+4Texas A&MWon 14–9 at TCU+5TCUWon 27–0 vs. Baylor+27Baylor
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 15at18HoustonL 6–⁠2429%
Sep 22vsMontanaW 21–⁠1091%
Sep 29at10LSUL 9–⁠2418%
Oct 13vs9Notre DameL 0–⁠2830%
Oct 20vsSMUL 16–⁠2741%
Oct 27at19TexasL 13–⁠5514%
Nov 3at15Texas TechL 6–⁠1916%
Nov 10vsArkansasW 17–⁠738%
Nov 17vsTexas A&MW 24–⁠2043%
Nov 24atTCUW 14–⁠945%
Dec 1vsBaylorW 27–⁠070%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Baylor 27–⁠0; unranked in the final AP poll; 3rd in the Southwest Conference.

In program history: The 38th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 115 on file).

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 1973.

Record
5–⁠6
Conference
4–⁠3 3rd in Southwest Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
153–⁠223
Coach
Al Conover
Elo
1482 +12 this season
SP+ rating
6.4 No. 52 of 123; offense No. 86, defense No. 32
SRS
5.1 No. 51 of 129 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—

Drafted in 1974

The 1974 draft
Rd 7Carl Swierc WRMiami Dolphins

All-Southwest Conference

2 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

  • Sammy JohnsonOTAP-2
  • Mike LandrumKUPI-2
  • Cornelius WalkerNGAP-2; UPI-2
  • Preston AndersonDBUPI-2

From Wikipedia’s 1973 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1973 Southwest Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Texas7–⁠08–⁠314
Texas Tech6–⁠111–⁠111
Rice4–⁠35–⁠6
SMU3–⁠3–⁠16–⁠4–⁠1
Arkansas3–⁠3–⁠15–⁠5–⁠1
Texas A&M3–⁠45–⁠6
TCU1–⁠63–⁠8
Baylor0–⁠72–⁠9

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