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1976 Rice

3–⁠8 (2–⁠6 Southwest Conference), coached by Homer Rice.

Schedule and results

Rice in 1976, game by game: won vs. Utah 43–22; lost at No. 15 LSU 0–31; lost vs. Texas 15–42; won at TCU 26–23; lost vs. No. 10 Texas Tech 13–37; lost at Texas A&M 34–57; lost at No. 14 Arkansas 16–41; won vs. SMU 41–34; lost vs. Baylor 6–38; lost at Florida 22–50; lost vs. No. 7 Houston 20–42+21−32Won 43–22 vs. Utah+21UtahLost 0–31 at No. 15 LSU-31No. 15 LSULost 15–42 vs. Texas-27TexasWon 26–23 at TCU+3TCULost 13–37 vs. No. 10 Texas Tech-24No. 10 Texas TechLost 34–57 at Texas A&M-23Texas A&MLost 16–41 at No. 14 Arkansas-25No. 14 ArkansasWon 41–34 vs. SMU+7SMULost 6–38 vs. Baylor-32BaylorLost 22–50 at Florida-28FloridaLost 20–42 vs. No. 7 Houston-22No. 7 Houston
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 18vsUtahW 43–⁠2268%
Sep 25at15LSUL 0–⁠3131%
Oct 2vsTexasL 15–⁠4227%
Oct 9atTCUW 26–⁠2354%
Oct 16vs10Texas TechL 13–⁠3729%
Oct 23atTexas A&ML 34–⁠5717%
Oct 30at14ArkansasL 16–⁠4112%
Nov 6vsSMUW 41–⁠3454%
Nov 13vsBaylorL 6–⁠3842%
Nov 20atFloridaL 22–⁠5016%
Nov 27vs7HoustonL 20–⁠4222%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Houston 42–⁠20; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 7th in the Southwest Conference.

In program history: The 89th-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 1976.

Heisman voteTommy Kramer, fifth

Led the nationTommy Kramer: passing yards (3,317 yds), total offense (3,272 yds), total offense per game (297.5)

Consensus All-AmericanTommy Kramer, QB

Record
3–⁠8
Conference
2–⁠6 tied for 7th in Southwest Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
236–⁠417
Coach
Homer Rice
Elo
1344 −70 this season
SP+ rating
-16.1 No. 118 of 132; offense No. 33, defense No. 131
SRS
−10.3 No. 109 of 137 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—

Drafted in 1977

The 1977 draft
Rd 1Tommy Kramer QBMinnesota Vikings

All-Southwest Conference

1 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

  • James SykesRBAP-2
  • Danny JohnsonOTAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1976 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1976 Southwest Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Houston7–⁠110–⁠24
Texas Tech7–⁠110–⁠213
Texas A&M6–⁠210–⁠27
Baylor4–⁠3–⁠17–⁠3–⁠1
Texas4–⁠45–⁠5–⁠1
Arkansas3–⁠4–⁠15–⁠5–⁠1
Rice2–⁠63–⁠8
SMU2–⁠63–⁠8
TCU0–⁠80–⁠11

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