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1985 Rice

3–⁠8 (2–⁠6 Southwest Conference), coached by Watson Brown.

Schedule and results

Rice in 1985, game by game: lost vs. Miami 20–48; lost at Air Force 17–59; won vs. Lamar 29–28; lost at No. 20 Texas 16–44; won vs. TCU 34–27; won at Texas Tech 29–27; lost vs. Texas A&M 28–43; lost vs. No. 14 Arkansas 15–30; lost at SMU 15–40; lost at No. 17 Baylor 10–34; lost vs. Houston 20–24+7−42Lost 20–48 vs. Miami-28MiamiLost 17–59 at Air Force-42Air ForceWon 29–28 vs. Lamar+1LamarLost 16–44 at No. 20 Texas-28No. 20 TexasWon 34–27 vs. TCU+7TCUWon 29–27 at Texas Tech+2Texas TechLost 28–43 vs. Texas A&M-15Texas A&MLost 15–30 vs. No. 14 Arkansas-15No. 14 ArkansasLost 15–40 at SMU-25SMULost 10–34 at No. 17 Baylor-24No. 17 BaylorLost 20–24 vs. Houston-4Houston
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 14vsMiamiL 20–⁠4824%
Sep 21atAir ForceL 17–⁠5911%
Sep 28vsLamarW 29–⁠2861%
Oct 5at20TexasL 16–⁠4414%
Oct 12vsTCUW 34–⁠2736%
Oct 19atTexas TechW 29–⁠2728%
Oct 26vsTexas A&ML 28–⁠4328%
Nov 2vs14ArkansasL 15–⁠3017%
Nov 9atSMUL 15–⁠4010%
Nov 16at17BaylorL 10–⁠3411%
Nov 30vsHoustonL 20–⁠2439%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Houston 24–⁠20; unranked in the final AP poll; 7th in the Southwest Conference.

In program history: The 102nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 115 on file).

Record
3–⁠8
Conference
2–⁠6 7th in Southwest Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
233–⁠404
Coach
Watson Brown
Elo
1305 −26 this season
SP+ rating
-9.4 No. 76 of 106; offense No. 31, defense No. 100
SRS
−9.4 No. 79 of 110 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Dick Hopkins

1985 Southwest Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Texas A&M7–⁠110–⁠26
Arkansas6–⁠210–⁠212
Baylor6–⁠29–⁠317
Texas6–⁠28–⁠4
SMU5–⁠36–⁠5
Houston3–⁠54–⁠7
Rice2–⁠63–⁠8
Texas Tech1–⁠74–⁠7
TCU0–⁠83–⁠8

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